subject: Deadly Lightning [print this page] Estimates from satellite images conclude lighting occurs from 50-100 times every second somewhere on our planet.
Skittering across the sky in blinding flashes of menace, powerful lightning rips away our illusions of control. For the minutes or hours that a violent thunderstorm passes over, we are reminded that we could forfeit our home, our ultimate well-beingor even our very lives in a single millisecond of its savage fury.
Lightning is powerful beyond our comprehension, at once fierce, terrifying, and even stunningly beautiful. Yet minutes after the storm passes, we breathe a sigh of relief and move on with our lives, again, forgetting the dangers we just faced, forgetting lightning can kill and destroy in an instant.
Damages Resulting from Lightning
Ordinarily, lightning causes more property damage each year than all other natural disasters (except floods).
Experts believe there are 55-100 Americans killed annually in lightning incidents, but as many as a thousand more survive a lightning strikes often with life-changing consequences. Survivors can experience long-term health issues that make working difficult or even impossible. Lightning victims may deal with numbness, memory loss, depression, dizziness, sleep problems, personality changes, or chronic pain.
How Many Lightning Flashes Are There in a Year?
At least 1,800 thunderstorms are in progress worldwide at any given minute sixteen million storms in a year. The National Weather Service reports there are 25 million flashes of lightning every year in the U.S. alone. A single violent thunderstorm may generate 100,000 bursts of lightning as it journeys across several states. And no one knows when one of those flashes can turn destructive or deadly.
As it sizzles and slashes through the atmosphere, lightning heats the air through which it passes up to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, carrying the 100 million volts of electrical power.
The Lightning Protection Institute reports there were over $1 billion in lightning-related insured damages in 2010. But how much higher would the number be if uninsured losses were known?
Fires Ignited by Lightning
Many structural fires are started by cloud-to-ground strikes by lightning. Recent estimates, for example, say almost one-third of all fires in churches were initially started by lightning striking. A study covering 2004 to 2008 shows that as much as $400 million a year in property damages is racked up by the 24,600 lightning-ignited fires.
On average, over 11,000 wildland fires each year are the direct result of lightning strikes and about 500 acres are burned in by each fire. From 2000-2009, 39 firefighters were killed in fires started by lightning.
The Best Shelter from Lightning
While no building can claim to be lightning-proof, the Lightning Protection Institute says a properly grounded steel structure is highly unlikely to suffer lightning damage, while a wood-framed house with a wood roof would be at greatest risk.
Steel is a greater conductor of electricity than wood. In a properly grounded steel building, lightning passes harmlessly into the ground. Wood, however, is a poor conductor, offering so much resistance to lightning that electricity often flashes out to harm nearby objects or people. Thats why it is so dangerous to stand beneath a tree in a thunderstorm.
Fires can start in less than 20 milliseconds when lightning hits. A wood-framed structure can easily be ignited by a lightning strike. Once started, the rest of the framing serves as fuel for the spread of the fire.
What to Do When Thunder Sounds
Men are much more likely to be hit by lighting than women, possibly because men are more likely to be busy with outdoor activities. According to the National Lightning Safety Institute, 85% of lightning victims are children or young men engaged in outdoor recreation or work.
Dont underestimate the power of lightning. It can strike ten miles out from an approaching storm. The sound of thunder moves at about a mile in five seconds, so if you can hear it, you are too close to take chances.
The best tip in a storm is this one from a safety campaign by the National Weather Service: When thunder roars, do indoors!
