Fourth of July one of most hazardous times for lightning
Fourth of July weekend, and the entire month in general, is the one of the most hazardous times for lightning strikes as people head outdoors to enjoy the summer fun and festivities.
Globally, there are three million lightning strikes per day. In the United States, that amounts to about 22 million hits per year. And few places on Earth experience more thunderstorms and lightning than Florida.
Central Florida gets hit with the greatest number of strikes because the state receives two sea breezes — one from its east coast and the other from its west — that converge frequently into storms.
Staying indoors is clearly key to lightning safety. But it isn't just getting hit directly by a bolt that is dangerous: indirect contact with lightning's energy can be deadly, too. Electrical conduits such as electrical cords, equipment, metal faucets and appliances or concrete can zap you by transferring the energy lightning produces into your body.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in the middle of a seasonal campaign, issuing alerts on lightning safety and advising people on ways to avoid being struck. Its tips to keep you safe during a storm include:
• Use cellular or cordless phones, not corded ones
• You can safely use remote controls, but do not touch electrical equipment such as computers, TVs or cords
• Do not wash your hands, take a shower, wash dishes or do laundry
• Stay away from windows, doors and porches
• Do not lie or sit on concrete floors or lean against concrete walls.
A single lightning flash carries more than five billion joules of energy — enough to power the average household for an entire month. That's obviously enough electricity to cause injury or death. In the U.S., about 300 people are injured by lightning each year and on average 49 are killed.
The heavy amount of thunderstorm activity recently has produced some intense lightning shows around the country, and the most year-to-date deaths since 2009. So far this year, 14 people have died from lightning strikes.
Earlier this week, an Illinois man named Rod Wolfe (yes, "Lightning Rod") was hit by lightning for a second time and survived. The first strike was 18 years ago. In Florida last week, a man working on a home's roof was struck by lightning and killed. The National Weather Service reported there were 500 strikes in the area at the time of the accident.
The physics of how thunderstorms initially gain their charges of energy isn't completely understood. However, clouds are positively charged on their tops and negatively at their bottoms. The push and pull between these forces via electrons is what ultimately gets discharged as lightning.
When that happens, lightning flashes can remain within a cloud, race cloud to cloud or head for the ground. When people get hit they actually act as a conductor and the lightning goes through them, eventually dispersing into the ground itself. That's why the majority of people struck by lightning are injured and not killed. Most deaths are caused by heart attacks resulting from the shock or by the delayed effects of brain damage. Lightning's energy largely affects the nervous system.
Besides staying indoors and away from materials than can attract lightning's energy, lightning rods can help. They are affixed to the top of buildings and homes to help divert danger by sending the energy into the ground.
Thunder is the sound of lighting. "When thunder roars stay indoors" is a good lightning safety rule. It also means staying indoors until 30 minutes after thunder stops as lightning can linger in the area.
Try to stay safe this Fourth of July and go outdoors to watch artificial fireworks, not nature's kind.
Thomas M. Kostigen is the founder of TheClimateSurvivalist.com and a New York Times best-selling author and journalist. He is the National Geographic author of "The Extreme Weather Survival Guide: Understand, Prepare, Survive, Recover" and the NG Kids book" Extreme Weather: Surviving Tornadoes, Tsunamis, Hailstorms, Thundersnow, Hurricanes and More!" Follow him @weathersurvival, or email kostigen@theclimatesurvivalist.com.
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