Thursday, June 17, 2004
Lightning Rod
Over the past year, I have written about lightning and thunder storms and also how surprised I was to see the people here in Houston not taking the lightning seriously. I’ve seen neighbors decide to go out jogging when the storm starts, I’ve seen little kids playing in the middle of the street during these storms, I’ve seen mail carriers having a conversation outside of their vehicles while lighning flashed all around them, I’ve seen people sitting in lawn chairs in their yards while these storms carried on.
And my commenters pointed and laughed at me. Oh yes they did and I will provide them as evidence should anyone doubt it.
I submitted a link not too long ago about some workers in Katy, TX who were struck by lightning while out on a construction site during a storm.
And today I’m going to submit a link to this story about a woman who was struck by lightning while carrying an umbrella on her way to work.
She was two houses away from her own house. She had just left and was on her way to catch the bus.
Read it, all those who mocked me. Read it and start taking it seriously.
So, again, I will provide a list of facts about lightning:
1) Lightning temperatures can get as high as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. To give you an idea of how hot that is, the sun’s surface is only about 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Lightning can strike you up to 10+ miles away. When you see lightning, start counting. If thunder rolls before 30 seconds are up, it’s close enough to strike you.
3) Voltage is 100 million to 1 billion volts.
4) Lightning is the number two cause of storm related deaths only second to flooding.
5) Americans are twice as likely to die from lightning than from a hurricane or tornado combined.
6) The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimates there are 200 deaths and 750 severe injuries and a total of 1000 injuries from lightning each year in the U.S.
7) 20% of all lightning victims die from the strike.
8) 70% of survivors will suffer serious long-term effects.
9) 85% of lightning victims are children and young men aged 10-35 engaged in outdoor recreation and work activities outside.
10) 70% of all lightning injuries and fatalities occur in the afternoon.
11) Lighthing can spread out about 60 feet after “striking earth”.
Other important things to note is that lightning can travel through to your pipes and you can get struck if you are, say, at the kitchen sink doing dishes or taking a shower or whatever, you can get struck. You can also get struck if you are on the phone, (non cordless) during a storm. Stay away from windows as lightning can travel through glass.
I’m not saying curl up in a ball in the closet but I really wish people would take this more seriously.
"The danger of lightning is often under publicized and misunderstood because it usually kills people one at a time. Lightning is one of the most dangerous features of a thunderstorm.”
I bet this lady never thought she’d be struck either.
[sources: noaa.gov, lightningtalks.com, strikealert.com, stormwise.com]
