GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Lightning kills! According, to the National Weather Service, lightning kills an average of 55-60, people in the U.S. every year, and hundreds more are severely injured. More than 400 people are struck by lightning every year.
Many people wait far too long to get to safety when a thunderstorm approaches.
FACT: Lightning strikes the U.S. about 25 million times a year.
But one phrase could save your life, “When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors.”
FACT: All thunderstorms produce lightning and are dangerous
No place outside is safe when thunderstorms are in your area. If you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you. Lightning can spread out some 60 feet after a strike.
FACT: Lightning can strike as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall
Those that survive a lightning strike are often left with permanent disabilities and must learn to live with lifelong pain and neurological disabilities.
Lightning: What You Need to Know
- NO PLACE outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area!!
- If you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you.
- When you hear thunder, immediately move to safe shelter: a substantial building with electricity or plumbing or an enclosed, metal-topped vehicle with windows up.
- Stay in safe shelter at least 30 minutes after you hear the last sound of thunder.
Indoor Lightning Safety
- Stay off corded phones, computers and other electrical equipment that put you in direct contact with electricity.
- Avoid plumbing, including sinks, baths and faucets.
- Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches.
- Do not lie on concrete floors, and do not lean against concrete walls.
Last Resort Outdoor Risk Reduction Tips
If you are caught outside with no safe shelter anywhere nearby the following actions may reduce your risk:
- Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks
- Never lie flat on the ground
- Never shelter under an isolated tree
- Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter
- Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes and other bodies of water
- Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.)