Safety Precautions For Lightning Storms
4/26/2019 (Permalink)
The odds for getting struck by lightning are pretty low, about 1 in 500,000, but that does not mean you want to test your odds.
If you hear thunder roar, go inside. During a lightning storm you should consider the following:
- Avoid water; lightning can travel through a plumbing system.
- Avoid electronics; lightning can travel through electrical systems, as well as, radio and television reception systems.
- Avoid phones with cords
- Avoid concrete floors and walls; lightning can travel through any metal wires or bars in concrete walls or floors
Stay inside for at least 30 minutes after the last thunder has been heard.
If you are outside during a lightning storm and can not seek shelter; crotch as low as you can, with as little of your body touching the surface of the ground. Distance yourself from tall objects, such as a tree. You never want to stand under a metal pole or tree during a lightning storm! Those objects can act as a lightning rods. Lightning causes electrical currents along the top of the ground that can be deadly as far as 100 feet away.