NJ weather: Manchester middle school teacher struck by lightning during nor'easter

A 33-year-old eighth-grade teacher was struck by lightning Wednesday outside Manchester Township Middle School while she was holding an umbrella, police said.

The teacher, who was on bus duty at the time, was standing on a sidewalk with other staff members preparing students for dismissal when her umbrella was struck by lightning about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Capt. Todd Malland said.

After the incident, the teacher, who lives in Toms River, was escorted into the school building by two other teachers and taken to the nurse’s office. The teacher was alert and conscious but said she had tingling to her hand and arm, Malland said. She was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, Malland said.

The school is at 2759 Ridgeway Road in the township. More information about the incident was not immediately available. Officers from the Manchester Township Police Department, as well as EMTs from the Manchester Volunteer First Aid Squad, responded to the school.

The lightning, when combined with thunder during a snowstorm, is called thundersnow. The Ocean County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday there have been numerous reports of lightning strikes.

A property in Ship Bottom caught fire after lightning struck, according to the Sheriff's Office.

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The combination of heavy snowfall, near-freezing temperatures, thunder and lightning have presented a hazardous situation.

Numerous police agencies, tasked with responding to dozens of car crashes, have urged members of the public to stay indoors in safe shelter and to keep off the roads. Roadways are slick, and people who must be driving should do so with extreme caution, police said.

Katie Park: @kathspark; 908-801-4853; kpark@gannettnj.com