Bridal photo shoot hit by lightning at Roan Mountain
A bridal photo shoot landed one group in the hospital after lightning hit Roan Mountain near the NC-TN state line.
MARION, N.C. — A bridal photo shoot turned dangerous when lightning struck near a group at Carvers Gap on Roan Mountain, sending several people to the hospital with injuries from the sudden strike.
Katie McDaniel and her friends were posing for wedding photos on what began as a sunny day when a thunderstorm rapidly developed. Within seconds, lightning struck a nearby tree, knocking the group to the ground and covering them with debris.
“Once the initial strike happened and we immediately fell to the ground, my first instinct was we got to get out of there,” McDaniel said. “I thought the tree was going to fall when the lightning struck it. I heard the cracking.”
McDaniel believes the electrical current traveled through the tree’s root system. Both she and the photographer’s son, who was assisting with the shoot, sustained welts on their legs from the strike and required emergency medical treatment.
Brinna Pendley, the photographer who was capturing the bridal images with her son, described the terrifying moment when the group was suddenly struck down.
“It was so quick that we literally went from standing to on the ground in the middle of a second,” Pendley said. “If it would have killed us, we probably wouldn’t know what happened.”
The incident occurred near the Tennessee state line at a popular mountain photography location. Despite the frightening experience and hospital visit, none of the group suffered severe injuries.
“I just remember looking at Katie, we were screaming, I saw a bright flash, it was very loud,” Pendley recalled. “I did see the ground smoking or something, and dirt just flew up and hit us, but it happened so fast.”
The National Lightning Safety Council ranks North Carolina among the top five states for lightning-related deaths between 2015 and 2024. Safety experts recommend avoiding open areas and tall objects like trees during thunderstorms, crouching low if a safe shelter cannot be reached, and staying away from water.
Officials also advise removing dead or rotting trees and branches from properties before storm season to prevent them from falling during severe weather.
Contact Siobhan Riley at sriley@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook and X.
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