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Category: Home and Apartments : Safety
 Lightning may be one of Mother Nature's most beautiful displays, but it is also the most dangerous and frequently encountered weather hazard that most people experience each year. According to the National Weather Service, it is the second most frequent killer in the USA with nearly 100 deaths and 500 injuries per year. (Floods and flash floods are the number one cause of weather related deaths in the nation.)
What is lightning?
Bolts of lightning are nothing more than surges of electrical current. It happens when the clouds are charged with negative electrons, and the ground is charged with positive electrons.
The lightning current can branch off a person from a tree, fence, pole or other tall object. In addition, flashes may conduct their current through the ground to a person after the flash strikes a nearby tree, antenna, or other tall object. The current also may travel through power or telephone lines, or plumbing pipes to a person who is in contact with an electrical appliance, telephone or plumbing fixture. Objects can be directly struck and this impact may result in explosion, burn or total destruction.
How can I stay safe when lightning is around?
The best way to stay safe when lightning is around is not to be an isolated tall object and don't be connected to anything that may be an isolated tall object. The best defense, according to Voorhees Fire District Chief Don Maxfield, is to plan ahead and avoid exposure to lightning when a thunderstorm occurs. Know where safe shelter is located and leave enough time to reach the safe shelter before the threat of lightning is overhead. Also, says Maxfield, do not be in contact with electrical appliances (including telephones) during a thunder storm.
The best shelter, says Maxfield, is a substantial building that has plumbing and wiring - in other words - one that is used or lived in by people for a major portion of the day. A very unsafe building for lightning has only a roof and some supports, but no wiring or pipes extended into the ground. A vehicle with a metal roof provides good shelter, and is much better than being in open air or in an underground building, but it is not as good as being in a building grounded by wires and pipes.
Lightning protection systems
Lightning rod systems can be installed atop your house. These rods do not attract lightning, but if lightning is going to hit your house, it (in most cases) will hit the rods.
How do these rods work? Because the positive ground charge is attracted upward, it actually uses the lightning protection system on your house as an outlet. As the negative charge from the clouds continues toward the ground, the positive charge travels up through the lightning rod system. When the negative charge is about 150 feet above the top of the protected building, the positive ground charge starts upward to meet and neutralize the downward negative charge.
For more information on how to protect yourself, your family and your home from lightning, call your local fire district.
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