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With Lightning Safety Week a few weeks
ago, the mission of the National Weather
Service was to teach and reinforce
lightning safety during the most prominent
time of year, summer, with the peak
season of lightning causalities occurring
between June and August. Nevertheless,
don’t be fooled, lightning strikes
year round.
Printable
Article (PDF) | Lightning
- What You Want
to Know | Lightning
Safety |
Video
Link - NOAA - Lightning Safety
Video
How many safety rules do you
remember from your childhood?
Before I read these safety
rules, I could only remember
two that my grandma use to
always say: 1) Don’t
stand under a tree or you will
turn crisp as a potato chip,
and 2) Don’t sit on the
toilet when there is lightning.
As a young child, those rules
alone conjured up some interesting
visuals in my head; so much
so that I remembered them forever!
Dare I say that was the whole
point? (Thanks grandma?)
Fact from the National Weather Service:
In the United States, there are an estimated
25 million lightning flashes each year.
During the past 30 years, lightning killed
an average of 58 people per year. This
is higher than 57 deaths per year caused
by tornadoes and average 48 deaths to
hurricanes. Yet because lightning usually
claims only one or two victims at a time
and does not cause mass destruction of
property, it is underrated as a risk.
While documented lightning injuries in
the United States average about 300 per
year, undocumented injuries are likely
much higher.
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>>>How
Lightning Enters a House or Building:
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There are three main
ways lightning enters homes and buildings:
1. A direct strike
2. Through wires or pipes that extend outside the structure
3. Through the ground
Regardless of the method of entrance,
once in a structure, the lightning
can travel through the electrical,
phone, plumbing, and radio/television
reception systems. Lightning can
also travel through any metal wires
or bars in concrete walls or flooring.
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Unsafe
buildings include carports,
open garages, covered patios, picnic
shelters, beach pavilions, golf shelters,
tents of any kind, baseball dugouts,
sheds and greenhouses. |
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Unsafe
vehicles include convertibles,
golf carts, riding mowers, open cab
construction equipment and boats
without cabins |
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Can I help a Lightning Strike Victim?
Lightning victims do not carry an electrical charge, are safe to touch, and need
urgent medical attention. Cardiac arrest is the immediate cause of death for
those who die. Some deaths can be prevented if the victim receives the proper
first aid immediately. Call 9-1-1 immediately and perform CPR if the person
is unresponsive or not breathing. Use an Automatic External Defibrillator if
one is available. |
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Indoor Lightning Safety Tips:
- Stay
off corded phones. You
can use cell phones or cordless
phones if they are not in a
charger.
Do not use computers or equipment
directly connected to electricity,
such as your stove. Unplug
electronic equipment before
the storm arrives.
- Avoid
plumbing, including sinks,
baths, and
faucets. Do not wash your
hands, take a shower, bath, or wash dishes. If lightning should directly
strike a building with electricity and/or plumbing, the dangerous electrical
current
from the flash will typically travel through the wiring and and/or plumbing,
and then into the ground. This is why you should stay away from showers,
sinks, hot tubs, and electronic equipment such as TVs, radios, corded telephones
and
computers.
- Stay
away from windows and doors.
Small cracks in the frames
can let lightning in.
- Do
not lie on concrete floors,
and
do not lean against concrete
walls.
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Outdoor Lightning Safety Tips:
• Seek
lower elevation areas.
• Never use a tree for shelter.
• Immediately get out and away from pools, lakes and other bodies of water.
• Stay away from all metallic objects (fences, power lines, poles, etc.)
• Do not raise umbrellas or golf clubs above you.
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www.seattle.craigslist.org
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Protect Your Personal Property:
Lightning generates electrical surges that can damage electronic equipment some
distance from the actual strike. Typical surge protectors will NOT protect
equipment from a lightning strike. If you plan to be away from your home when
thunderstorms are possible, unplug unneeded equipment. Do NOT unplug equipment
during a thunderstorm as there is a risk you could be struck.
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www.dogsdeservebetter.org |
Remember Your Pets:
Doghouses are not safe shelters.
Dogs that are chained to trees
or chained to wire runners can
easily fall victim to a lightning
strike. It’s best to bring
your pets inside.
Photo by Amanda Pickett www.weblogs.wgntv.com
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Photo
by NLSI
National Lightning Safety Institute
www.lightningsafety.com
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Photo
by Michael Fewing
www.strikeone.com.au
from National Lightning Safety Institute
www.lightningsafety.com
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What the people at the
National Weather
Service
would like you to know: |
- NO
PLACE outside is safe when thunderstorms
are in the area!
- If
you hear thunder, lightning is close
enough to strike you.
- When
you hear thunder, immediately move
to safe shelter.
- Safe
shelter is a substantial building or
inside an enclosed,
metal-topped
vehicle.
- Stay in safe shelter at least 30 minutes
after you hear the last clap of
thunder.
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