Credit NOAA
# 8786
One of the indelible lessons I learned as a young paramedic – working as I did in the lightning capital of North America (Tampa Bay) – was the absolute folly of standing on wet grass, while wearing steel spiked shoes (this was in 1973 or 1974), and then hoisting a metal rod above one’s head on a hot, humid, and overcast summer’s day.
Poor Charlie (or whatever his name was), undoubtedly never saw it coming.
But he probably should have, as every year lightning claims several dozen lives in the United States, and injures hundreds more, often in open spaces like golf courses and beaches.
While Florida leads the nation in Lightning deaths each year, there really isn’t anywhere you can go in North American that is immune.
Credit Vaisala Inc.
Fatalists who think that if lightning gets them, they’ll never know it, should understand that only about 10% of those struck by lightning each year die. Among those that survive, many experience serious, and sometimes life long injury or disability.
This week NOAA is promoting Lightning Safety Awareness Week: June 22-28, 2014. Below you’ll find links to some of their information.
Summer is the peak season for one of the nation's deadliest weather phenomena--lightning. Though lightning strikes peak in summer, people are struck year round. In the United States, an average of 51 people are killed each year by lightning, and hundreds more are severely injured.
Safety: Learn what you need to do to stay safe when thunderstorms threaten.
Victims: Learn what happens to people who are struck by lightning and look at fatality statistics for the U.S.
Science: Learn how thunderstorms develop and what happens during a lightning discharge.
Myths and Facts: Get answers to many of the questions you have always wondered about
Teachers: find curriculum guides, presentations games, activities, and more. Kids: Download games, videos, coloring pages and other fun stuff.
More Resources: Download toolkits, posters, pamphlets, and other information to help communities, organizations, and families stay safe from the dangers of lightning
