Today's lesson

I went to the most informative lecture yesterday... all about lightning. As I sat and listened to the good doctor, I realized how much I DIDN'T know about lightning and in the interest of safety and injury prevention, I thought I'd share... Hang on tight and prepare to become

ENLIGHTNED!

• Did you know that there is NO safe place outside during a thunderstorm? Nope, none. The best you can do is sit inside a metal top vehicle (sorry, no convertables!) and wait it out.
• Do you practice the 30-30 rule? If it's 30 seconds or less from FLASH to BANG, go inside immediately and stay there until 30 minutes have passed from the last thunder.
• Blue sky is no protection - lightning can travel 10 miles from the cloud before it finds you. (In which case, you are out of luck. Sorry.)
• Lightning is not a burn injury. Burns are actually the LEAST of a lightning strike victims problems. Most burns are caused by the sweat on your body that gets turned to steam when you are struck. Other burns come from any metal that is touching your body, like jewelery or tools or golf clubs.
• The most troublesome damage comes from the zap your body's electrical system gets.... specifically your nervous system and heart. When you add electricity to something that already has an electric current in it, bad things happen. Like your heart stops. Or you suffer brain damage. Most people who suffer lightning strikes have some degree of mental disablilty afterwards. The damage can be mild or severe (think regressing to the mentality of a 2 year old).
• Only 2-3% of all lightning injuries happen on the golf course.
• Direct lightning strikes are rare... only 1-2% of all injuries.
• Most injuries occur from one of 3 ways.... Side splash-also known as standing under a tree (or too close to the tree or fence or other object that takes the strike)..... Ground current- lightning that hits the ground and travels.... if it travels through the ground you will get a smaller amount of energy delivered to your feet. If the lightning bounces along the ground (typically seen when it hits the top of the mountain and sort of rains down the mountain side), you will get a BIG shock... many tent campers that sleep through a thunderstorms have shown up in the ER or the doctors office with eye injuries related to lightning..... Streamers- this is deadly... it's when your hair stands on end and you become part of the electrical charge that is rising from the ground to meet the bolt coming from the sky.
• One in 10 people die after a lightning strike.
• Lightning doesn't always strike the tallest object-remember the neighbor's fire from lightning a couple of weeks ago? Further investigation reveals that the 1st story townhouse was struck first, with the 2 story house and my house getting side splashed. Click on the photo below to see just how lightning can bypass the obvious....

• Lightning in the 1800's killed more people indoors than out... so why do we recommend you go INDOORS now? Plumbing and wiring, my dear! Prior to the 1900's most homes were not equiped with indoor plumbing (yuck!) or electrical wiring. These provide natural conduits for a lightning charge to travel (and they are grounded) and should spare you. However... these things also lead to.....
• Indoor swimming pools... which should be evacuated during an electrical storm.
• Not related to your plumbing is the telephone. If it's hardwired, HANG UP! The insulators on your phone wire don't work fast enough to prevent you from getting zapped.
• Never lay flat during a storm. Instead assume the LIGHTNING DESPERATION POSITION

The object of the game is to make as small a footprint as possible. If you cannot crouch like this (like my 44 year old body can't), you can sit on the ground curled into a very small ball (although this will increase the size of your footprint -hee hee hee). Be sure to cover your ears. It will get very loud. While you are in this position, if it's been a while since you "relieved" yourself, THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO DO IT!!!!! Water conducts electricity very nicely.

• 100 dead and 500 injured every year-that should get your attention
• http://www.noaa.gov/lightning.html the desperation position and other important stuff....

Lightning Awareness Week is June 19-25. Share this with your kids and grandkids and stay safe... remember....

WHEN THUNDER ROARS

GO INDOORS!