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LIGHTNING
SAFETY AWARENESS
The capricious nature of
thunderstorms makes them extremely
dangerous;
however, following proven lightning safety guidelines can reduce your
risk of
injury or death. You are ultimately responsible for your personal
safety and
that of your family.
You have the responsibility to act when threatened by lightning.
No place is absolutely safe from lightning; however, some places are much safer than others. The safest location during lightning activity is an enclosed building. The second safest location is an enclosed metal vehicle, car, truck, van, etc., but NOT a convertible, bike or other topless or soft top vehicle.
Safe
Buildings
A safe building is one
that is fully enclosed with a roof, walls and
floor,
such as a home, school, office building or a shopping center. Even
inside, you
should take precautions. Picnic shelters and other partially open
structures
such as a dining fly over a picnic table are NOT
safe.
Enclosed buildings are
safe because of wiring and plumbing. If
lightning
strikes these types of buildings, or an outside telephone pole, the
electrical
current from the flash will typically travel through the wiring or the
plumbing
into the ground. This is why you should stay away from showers, sinks,
hot
tubs, etc., and electronic equipment such as TVs, radios, and
computers.
Lightning can damage or
destroy electronics so its important to have
a
proper lightning protection system connected to your electronic
equipment. The
American Meteorological Society has tips for protecting your
electronics from
lightning. Unsafe
Buildings
Examples of buildings
which are unsafe include car ports, covered
but open
garages, covered patio, picnic shelters, beach shacks/pavilions, golf
shelters,
camping tents, large outdoor tents, baseball dugouts and other
partially open
structures.
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How Far Away Is
Lightning From Me?
To estimate the distance between you and a lightning flash, use the "Flash to Bang" method: If you observe lightning, count the number of seconds until you hear thunder. Divide the number of seconds by five to get the distance in miles. Example: If you see
lightning and it takes 10 seconds before you hear the thunder, then the
lightning is 2 miles away from you (10 divided by 5 = 2 miles).
Get to a safe location if the time between the lightning flash and the rumble of thunder is 30 seconds or less. |
Safe
Vehicle A safe vehicle is a hard-topped car, SUV, minivan, bus, tractor, etc. (soft-topped convertibles are not safe). If you seek shelter in your vehicle, make sure all doors are closed and windows rolled up. Do not touch any metal surfaces. If you're driving when a thunderstorm starts, pull off the roadway. A lightning flash hitting the vehicle could startle you and cause temporary blindness, especially at night. Do not use electronic devices such as HAM radios or cell phones during a thunderstorm. Lightning striking the vehicle, especially the antennas, could cause serious injury if you are talking on the radio or holding the microphone at the time of the flash. Your vehicle and its electronics may be damaged if hit by lightning. Vehicles struck by lightning are known to have flat tires the next day. This occurs because the lightning punctures tiny holes in the tires. Vehicles have caught fire after being struck by lightning; however, there is no modern day documented cases of vehicles "exploding" due to a lightning flash. One of the most dangerous types of cloud-to-ground lightning are bolts from the blue. A "Bolt from the Blue" is a cloud-to-ground lighting flash that typically:
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Bolts From
the Blue
One of the most dangerous types of cloud-to-ground lightning are bolts from the blue. A "Bolt from the Blue" is a cloud-to-ground lighting flash that typically:
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 2004 storm that appeared in about 10 minutes at Bear Paw Scout Camp |
When
a safe location is nearby, follow the "30/30 Rule."
Plan Ahead! Your best source of up-to-date weather information is a NOAA Weather Radio (NWR). Portable weather radios are handy for outdoor activities. If you don't have NWR, stay up to date via internet, TV, local radio or cell phone. If you are in a group, make sure all leaders or members of the group have a lightning safety plan and are ready to use it. Determine how
far you are from a safe enclosed
building or a safe vehicle. As soon as you hear thunder, see lightning
or see
dark threatening clouds, get to a safe location. Then wait 30 minutes
after the
last rumble of thunder before you leave the safe location. If you are
part of a
group, particularly a large one, you will need more time to get all
group
members to safety. NWS recommends having professional lightning
detection
equipment so your group can be alerted from significant distances from
the
event site. |
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Dead cows lined up along a metallic fence. Lightning struck the fence, and the current traveled along the fence killing the cows. Photo
Courtesy Ruth Lyon-Bateman |
If lightning is in the immediate area, and there is no safe location nearby, get into the lightning desperation position. Crouch down but do NOT lay down. Bend your knees down while keeping your feet together.
Motorcyclist/Bicyclist: So has anyone been hit riding a bike? Here are just a few real examples from the last few years.
 Lightning Desperation Position |
If you absolutely
cannot get to a safe building or vehicle, here are
some
last resort choices:
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ODDS OF BECOMING A LIGHTNING VICTIM
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| U.S. 2000 Census population as of 2008 | 300,000,000 | |||
| Number of Deaths Actually Reported | 60 | Number of Injuries Reported | 340 | 400 |
| Estimated number of actual U.S. Deaths | 60 | Estimated number of actual Injuries | 540 | 600 |
| Odds of being struck by lightning in a given year (reported deaths + injuries) | 1/700,000 | |||
| Odds of being struck by lightning in a given year (estimated total deaths + injuries) | 1/400,000 | |||
| Odds of being struck in your lifetime (Est. 80 years) | 1/5000 | |||
| Odds you will be affected by someone being struck (Ten people affected for every one struck) | 1/500 | |||
Lightning tends to be a nervous system injury and may affect the brain, autonomic nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. When the brain is affected, the person often has difficulty with short-term memory, coding new information and accessing old information, multitasking, distractibility, irritability and personality change.
"Patients have difficulty in all areas that require them to analyze more items of information than they can handle simultaneously. They present (appear) as slow because it takes longer for smaller than normal chunks of information to be processed. They present as distractible because they do not have the spare capacity to monitor irrelevant stimuli at the same time as they are attending to the relevant stimulus. They present as forgetful because while they are concentrating on point A, they do not have the processing space to think about point B simultaneously. They present as inattentive because when the amount of information that they are given exceeds their capacities, they cannot take it all in."
Early on,
survivors may complain of intense headaches,
ringing in the ears, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and other
post-concussion types of symptoms. Survivors may also experience
difficulty sleeping, sometimes sleeping excessively at first and then
only two or three hours at a time. A few may develop seizure-like
activity several weeks to months after the
injury.
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Other
Information & Resources
Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Lightning...Nature's Most Violent Storms: pdf
