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Show Page 18 The Ogden Valley news Volume XV Issue XII June 1, 2008 When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!—Lightning Safety Week June 22-28, 2008 Summer is the peak season for one of the nation’s deadliest weather phenomena—lightning. In the United States, an average of 62 people are killed each year by lightning. In 2007, 45 people were struck and killed by lighting in the U.S.; hundreds of others were injured. Of the victims who were killed by lightning: • 98% were outside • 89% were male • 30% were males between the ages of 20-25 • 25% were standing under a tree • 25% occurred on or near the water The reported number of injuries is likely far lower than the actual total number because many people do not seek help, or doctors do not record it as a lightning injury. People struck by lightning suffer from a variety of long-term, debilitating symptoms, including memory loss, attention deficits, sleep disorders, numbness, dizziness, stiffness in joints, irritability, fatigue, weakness, muscle spasms, depression, and an inability to sit for long. Lightning is a serious danger. Safe Shelters & Indoor Safety What is a Safe Shelter? A house or other substantial building offers the best protection from lightning. In assessing the safety provided by a particular structure, it is more important to consider what happens if the structure gets struck by lightning, rather than whether the structure will be hit by lightning. For a shelter to provide protection from lightning, it must contain a mechanism for conducting the electrical current from the point of contact to the ground. These mechanisms may be on the outside of the structure, may be contained within the walls of the structure, or may be a combination of the two. On the outside, lightning can travel along the outer shell of the building or may follow metal gutters and downspouts to the ground. Inside a structure, lightning can follow conductors such as the electrical wiring, plumbing, and telephone lines to the ground. Avoid Unsafe Shelters! Unless specifically designed to be lightning safe, small structures do little, if anything, to protect occupants from lightning. Many small open shelters on athletic fields, golf courses, parks, roadside picnic areas, schoolyards, and elsewhere are designed to protect people from rain and sun, but not lightning. A shelter that does not contain plumbing or wiring throughout, or some other mechanism for grounding from the roof to the ground is not safe. Small wooden, vinyl, or metal sheds offer little or no protection from lightning and should be avoided during thunderstorms. How Lightning Enters a House or Building There are three main ways lightning enters homes and buildings: (1) a direct strike, (2) through wires or pipes that extend outside the structure, and (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. Stay Safe While Inside Phone use is the leading cause of indoor lightning injuries in the United States. Lightning can travel long distances in both phone and electrical wires, particularly in rural areas. Stay away from windows and doors as these can provide the path for a direct strike to enter a home. Do not lie on the concrete floor of a garage as it likely contains a wire mesh. In general, basements are a safe place to go during thunderstorms. However, there are some things to keep in mind. Avoid contact with concrete walls that may contain metal reinforcing bars. Avoid washers and dryers since they not only have contacts with the plumbing and electrical systems, but also contain an electrical path to the outside through the dryer vent. Remember Your Pets You may want to consider the safety of your family pets during thunderstorms. Dog houses are not lightning-safe. Dogs that are chained to trees or chained to wire runners can easily fall victim to a lightning strike. Protect Your Personal Property Lightning also causes significant damage to personal property each year. In addition to direct strikes, 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. To the extent possible, unplug any appliances or electronic equipment from all conductors well before a thunderstorm threatens. This includes not only the electrical system, but also the reception system. If you plan to be away from your home when thunderstorms are possible, be sure to unplug unneeded equipment before you leave. Summary of Lightning Safety Tips for Inside the Home 1. Avoid contact with corded phones 2. Avoid contact with electrical equipment or cords. If you plan to unplug any electronic equipment, do so well before the storm arrives. 3. Avoid contact with plumbing. Do not wash your hands, do not take a shower, do not wash dishes, and do not do laundry. 4. Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches. 5. Do not lie on concrete floors and do not lean against concrete walls. 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. When groups are involved, the time needed to get to safety increases. So you need to start leaving sooner. Your entire group should already be in a safe locaLightning Risk Reduction Outdoors tion when the approaching storm reaches No place is absolutely safe from lightning; within 5 miles from your location. however, some places are much safer than others. The safest location during lightning Here some two common scenarios with activity is a large enclosed building, not a suggestions on how to safely respond. picnic shelter or shed. The second safest location is an enclosed metal vehicle, car, Coach of Outdoor Sports Team You are a manager of a little league truck, van, etc., but NOT a convertible, team and have a game this evening at the bike or other topless or soft-top vehicle. local recreational park. The weather forecast for the day calls for a partly cloudy Safe Buildings A safe building is one that is fully skies, with a chance of thunderstorms by enclosed with a roof, walls, and floor, early evening. You arrive in your vehicle such as a home, school, office building or shopping center. Even inside, you should take precautions. Picnic shelters, dugouts, sheds, and other partially open or small structures 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 Dead cows lined up along a metallic fence. computers. Lightning struck the fence, and the current Lightning can damage or destroy elec- traveled along the fence killing the cows. tronics so it’s important to have a proper Photo Courtesy Ruth Lyon-Bateman. lightning protection system connected to your electronic equipment. The American while the kids arrive with their parents. Meteorological Society has tips for pro- Once arriving at the park, you notice the only buildings are the restrooms, an tecting your electronics from lightning. enclosed building. Shortly after sunset, the skies start to cloud up and you see Unsafe Buildings Examples of buildings that are unsafe bright flashes in the sky to the west. The include car ports, covered but open garag- local radio station mentions storms are es, covered patio, picnic shelters, beach on the way. In this case, the safest locations are the shacks/pavilions, golf shelters, camping tents, large outdoor tents, baseball dugouts, vehicles the kids came in or the restrooms. and other small buildings such as sheds and You should have a choice of allowing greenhouses that do not have electricity or the kids to go back to their vehicles or bring everyone into the restrooms. It is plumbing. important NOT to stay in the dugouts as they are not a safe place during lightning Safe Vehicle A safe vehicle is a hard-topped car, SUV, activity. Once at a safe place, wait 30 minivan, bus, tractor, etc. (soft-topped con- minutes after the last rumble of thunder vertibles are not safe). If you seek shelter before going back outside. in your vehicle, make sure all doors are closed and windows rolled up. Do not Family at the Beach You plan to go to the beach or lake touch any metal surfaces. If you’re driving when a thunderstorm later this morning with the kids. The starts, pull off the roadway. A lightning weather forecast calls for a nice mornflash hitting the vehicle could startle you ing followed by a 30 percent chance of and cause temporary blindness, especially afternoon thunderstorms. You decide to head for the beach in your minivan. The at night. Do not use electronic devices such beach is about 5 minutes from the parking as HAM radios during a thunderstorm. lot. The only nearby buildings are picnic Lightning striking the vehicle, especially shelters. By early afternoon you notice the antennas, could cause serious injury the skies darkening and hear distant thunif you are talking on the radio or holding der. What would be your lightning safety the microphone at the time of the flash. plan of action? In this case, the best place to go is Emergency officials such as police officers, firefighters, security officers, etc., should your car. Do NOT seek shelter under the use extreme caution using radio equipment beach picnic shacks because these are not safe in lightning storms. Wait 30 minutes when lightning is in the area. Your vehicle and its electronics may until after the last thunder crack before be damaged if hit by lightning. Vehicles going back to the beach or driving home. struck by lightning are known to have flat tires the next day. This occurs because the Camping You and your family are camping. As lightning punctures tiny holes in the tires. Vehicles have caught fire after being struck you and your spouse are preparing dinner by lightning; however, there is no modern on the camp stove, you here rumbles of day documented cases of vehicles “explod- thunder in the distance. You look around and you see your tent is nearby, and a ing” due to a lightning flash. large picnic shelter is just down the trail. Your car is about ¼ of a mile away parked Bolts from the Blue There are times when a lightning flash at the trailhead. What should you and can travel horizontally many miles away your family do? In this case, the smartest thing to do from the thunderstorm cloud itself and then strike the ground. These types of lightning is to round up your family and get into flashes are called “Bolts from the Blue” your car. The tent is not a safe place as because they seem to come out of a clear it offers no protection from a lighting blue sky. Although these flashes are rare, flash. The picnic shelter is also not a safe location. While both the tent and picnic they have been known to cause fatalities. shelter will keep you dry, they offer no protection from a lightning flash). It is When a safe location is nearby: • Seek safe shelter when you first hear best to remain in your vehicle for about thunder, see dark threatening clouds 30 minutes after the last rumble of thundeveloping overhead or lightning. Count der is heard. the seconds between the time you see When a Safe Location Is Not Nearby lightning and hear the thunder. The lightning safety community • Stay inside until 30 minutes after you reminds you that there is no safe place last hear thunder. to be outside in a thunderstorm. If you absolutely can’t get to safety, this Plan Ahead! Your best source of up-to-date weather section is designed to help you lesson information is a NOAA Weather Radio the threat of being struck by lightning (NWR). Portable weather radios are handy while outside. Being stranded outdoors when lightfor outdoor activities. If you don’t have NWR, stay up to date via internet, TV, local ning is striking nearby is a harrowing radio or cell phone. If you are in a group, experience. If you are camping, climbmake sure all leaders or members of the ing, on a motorcycle or bicycle, boating, group have a lightning safety plan and are scuba diving, or enjoying other outdoor activities and cannot get to a safe vehicle ready to use it. or shelter, follow these last resort tips. These will not prevent you from being hit, just slightly lesson the odds. • Do NOT seek shelter under tall isolated • • • • • • • trees. The tree may help you stay dry but will significantly increase your risk of being struck by lightning. Rain will not kill you, but the lightning can! Do NOT seek shelter under partially enclosed buildings Stay away from tall, isolated objects. Lightning typically strikes the tallest object. That may be you in an open field or clearing. Know the weather patterns of the area. For example, in mountainous areas, thunderstorms typically develop in the early afternoon, so plan to hike early in the day and be down the mountain by noon. Know the weather forecast. If there is a high chance of thunderstorms, curtail your outdoor activities. Do not place your campsite in an open field on the top of a hill or on a ridge top. Keep your site away from tall isolated trees or other tall objects. If you are in a forest, stay near a lower stand of trees. If you are camping in an open area, set up camp in a valley, ravine, or other low area. A tent offers NO protection from lighting. Wet ropes can make excellent conductors. This is BAD news when it comes to lightning activity. If you are mountain climbing and see lightning, and can do so safely, remove unnecessary ropes extended or attached to you. If a rope is extended across a mountain face and lightning makes contact with it, the electrical current will likely travel along the rope, especially if it is wet. Stay away from metal objects, such as fences, poles and backpacks. Metal is an excellent conductor. The current from a lightning flash will easily travel for long distances. If lightning is in the immediate area, and there is no safe location nearby, stay at least 15 feet apart from other members of your group so the lightning won’t travel between you if hit. If you can possibly run to a vehicle or building, do so. Sitting or crouching on the ground is NOT safe and should be a last resort if an enclosed building or vehicle is not available. Motorcyclist/Bicyclist So has anyone been hit riding a bike? Here are just a few real examples from the last few years. • Virginia Beach, VA: Motorcyclist killed while traveling on Route 58. • Altoona, PA: One motorcycle rider killed and three riders injured when they took shelter in a woods from a thunderstorm. • Wyoming: Motorcyclist injured while driving home on I-90 from Sturgis. • Taylor Park, CO: Dirt biker injured while heading down mountain pass. Protect yourself when on a bicycle, motorcycle or dirt bike. • Carry a portable Weather Radio or listen to commercial radio. • If you see threatening skies in the distance and you are passing a safe location, pull over and wait 30 minutes after the last thunder crack. • If you can turn around and get away from the storm, do so! • DO NOT ride into a lighting storm! If you absolutely cannot get to a safe building or vehicle, here are some last resort choices: • Wait out the storm below an overpass. DO NOT touch steel girders. Move away from your bike. Remain on dry surfaces if possible. Overpasses are engineered structures and are likely to be properly grounded. Although an overpass is likely to be higher than the surrounding landscape, if it is struck by lightning, the electrical current will likely be channeled safely into the ground. • Look for a bridge. Stay away from water. Stay away from any metal surfaces. Be alert for rapidly rising water if under a bridge. • High tension wires: If high voltage electrical tension wires cross the road, you may want to seek shelter directly underneath these wires. Do not get too close to the large metal towers which hold up these wires. Stay at least 50 feet away. Electric companies design these high tension wires for lightning strikes. If lighting should strike the wires or towers, the current is designed to safely go deep into the ground. • If you are caught in the open and lightning is occurring within 5 miles, stop riding, get off of your motorcycle/bicycle, find a ditch or other low spot and sit down. • Motorcyclists should move at least 50 feet away from their bike. Bicyclist should lay their bikes on the ground. On the Water The vast majority of lightning injuries |
