Lightning Strike Injures Oak Park Pastor

Update: CBS2 reports the injured woman is Kathy Nolte, Pastor at in Oak Park. Nolte told CBS2 she was walking with members of her congregation during the annual Crop Walk when a lightning bolt ricocheted off a tree, struck her and knocked her unconcsious. Nolte said she has a dozen staples in her skull and is recovering from a concussion after the fall. Here's CBS2's report.  

Original Story: Whoa.

A woman escaped serious injury Sunday after a lightning bolt thwacked a tree in northwest Oak Park, Oak Leaves is reporting.

Fire officials told the paper the woman, 57, was unconscious when crews arrived at Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue, but was later able to speak with emergency responders. She was taken to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood with non-life threatening injuries.

The incident took place around 2:30 p.m., about the same time storms moved quickly across the western suburbs and downtown Chicago. The Chicago Weather Center's blog has some compelling pro-am shots of lightning strikes across the metro Chicago area.

The stricken tree in Oak Park was one of four American Elms in the area to suffer storm damage, forestry officials told Oak Leaves.