Buzz
Know someone who enjoys watching lightning strikes? This is definitely not the moment to give them a call. Electricity can travel through your landline phone, plumbing, or any wires, potentially shocking you.
iStockphoto/ThinkstockYes, lightning can strike more than once. It happens quite often. If you're the Empire State Building, it's no big deal. But for humans, who have sensitive tissues and organs, a lightning strike can cause serious damage. That's why, when thunder rolls, we head indoors, just as the National Weather Service advises.
Lightning isn't always predictable. It can strike up to 10 miles away from a storm, catching us off guard when we're far from shelter [source: FEMA].
That's why it's crucial to know both where to seek shelter and where to avoid when you spot those ominous cauliflower clouds or hear the distant rumble of thunder approaching.
One of the most dangerous places to hide during a thunderstorm is actually one of Mother Nature's own creations.
5: Under a Tree
When caught outdoors during a thunderstorm, it's natural to seek shelter under the nearest large object. We instinctively feel safer when we're not exposed (and drenched by rain). But taking refuge under a tall, solitary tree or a telephone pole is a terrible decision.
Lightning occurs when charges from storm clouds travel toward Earth, seeking objects with opposite charges. The first easy target on the way down — such as a tall tree filled with sap and water (which makes it an excellent conductor) — is often struck first.
If you're standing near or under a tree, you're instantly in second place in the lightning lottery. The lightning could hit the tree and jump to you (a side flash) or travel through the tree and into you (contact potential). And, to make matters worse, there's also the risk of being struck by falling debris after a bolt has hit the tree.
The next worst place to be is all fun and games... that is, until the skies suddenly light up with a storm.
While negatively charged lightning strikes are more common, positive lightning is far more dangerous. It generates a stronger electrical field, has a higher peak charge, and its flash lasts longer [source: National Severe Storms Laboratory].
4: On a Golf Course
The United States Golf Association (USGA) rarely allows golfers to stop playing, only in cases like disputes or sudden illness. However, lightning is one of the exceptions [source: USGA].
The charm of a golf course lies in its vast, open spaces, with rolling green hills stretching as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, lightning shares a similar fondness for golf courses. An expansive field with just a few people holding up metal clubs? A perfect target for a strike.
Only 20 percent of people struck by lightning die on the spot, which is remarkable considering a lightning bolt can reach temperatures of 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit (29,982 degrees Celsius) and carry a charge of 1 billion volts [sources: Mullen; Webber]. Fortunately, a phenomenon called external flashover causes most of the current to pass over the skin instead of traveling directly through the body [source: Mullen].
If you're out on the golf course when you hear thunder, make a beeline for shelter or your car. The shelters on the course are designed to shield you from rain and sun, not from lightning, and they aren't safe during a storm.
On the next page, you'll discover which places you absolutely want to avoid when the storm rolls in.
3: On a Small Boat
When you spot dark, towering cumulonimbus clouds with an anvil-shaped top, get off the water immediately — and fast.
Not all boats are made the same. Sailboats are arguably the worst choice to be on during a thunderstorm — they have tall masts and no cabin. Metal boats can quickly disperse the electric charge of a lightning strike. Wooden and fiberglass boats, however, require a lightning protection system (LPS). While an LPS won't stop a strike, it can protect both the people aboard and the boat's equipment.
A lightning protection system for boats consists of four key components, as outlined by the National Sea Grant Library:
- Air terminal
- Conductor
- Water terminal
- Bonding system
In simple terms, you'll need a lightning rod, copper wiring to create a direct path from the air to the water, an object that attracts lightning to the water, and a system that connects all the metal parts on your boat. This increases the likelihood that lightning will prefer your LPS over you as a target.
Next: So near, yet so far.
During a thunderstorm, your car is a safe refuge. Thanks to a principle known as Faraday's cage, the metal body of the car allows the electrical charge to travel along the exterior, keeping the inside safe. However, when it comes to tornadoes, staying in a car or mobile home is one of the worst places to be [source: National Severe Storms Laboratory].
2: In Your Yard
Being outside your house is not the same as being inside when it comes to lightning safety. Every year, people are struck and killed by lightning in their own yards. Most are working in the garden, though some are just taking out the trash or walking to their car to grab something they forgot.
Even inside your home, you're not completely safe. The Red Cross advises avoiding baths or showers and refraining from using land-line phones or electrical appliances during a storm [source: Red Cross]. Lightning can travel through plumbing, phone lines, or electrical wiring, and potentially shock you.
Even if you survive a lightning strike, NASA's list of potential injuries is alarming and includes:
- Burns
- Internal bleeding
- Heart attack
- Memory loss
- Breathing difficulties
- Eye injury
- Deafness
To understand the sheer force of a lightning strike, consider that many people are knocked clean out of their shoes — and sometimes even their clothes.
Not much is known about keuranopathy, the specific effects of lightning on the body; the above list includes just a few of the symptoms observed by medical professionals in lightning strike victims. The data we have from industrial electrical shocks simply doesn’t compare. Stay indoors during storms, or we may end up with more statistics to study.
Turn to the next page to discover the absolute worst place to be during a thunderstorm.
In Pliny's "Natural History," it is mentioned that bay trees and "Sea-Calves" (seals) were believed to be immune to lightning. This belief is the reason Tiberius wore a crown of bay leaves and Augustus Caesar donned a sealskin [source: Pliny].
1: In an Open Field
Chopping cotton. Baling hay. Feeding livestock. Herding cattle. These are just a few of the activities that led to lightning strikes and fatalities in 2011 [source: National Weather Service]. Tragically, all these deaths took place in open fields, whether people were working on the farm or enjoying leisure time. Sadly, lightning fatalities on soccer fields are not rare in this category.
No matter how pressing a task may seem, most things can wait until after the storm has passed. There may be extreme situations where this isn't true, but finishing a sports game or digging up potatoes certainly isn't one of them.
If you find yourself stuck outside during a storm with no shelter, the National Lightning Safety Institute advises you to avoid hills and isolated trees, and assume the lightning crouch:
- Place your feet together
- Crouch down
- Lower your head
- Cover your ears
If you're accompanied by others, make sure to spread out -- this decreases the likelihood of everyone being struck at once.
Don't buy into the myth that touching someone who has been struck by lightning will electrocute you. The human body doesn't store electricity [source: Webber]. If possible, call 911 immediately. Then, administer CPR or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. If multiple people are affected, the American Meteorological Society suggests prioritizing those who appear to be deceased, as they are often able to be revived [source: National Weather Service].
