Safety Tips To Help You Weather The Storm: Lightning Safety 101

The National Lightning Safety Council was established to promote lightning safety and education. At www.Ready.gov, June is a prime month to get the word out as thunderstorms and extreme weather ramp up with the warming of spring and start of summer. Bottomline, if you hear thunder, it’s best to go indoors. And if you’re in an area prone to lightning storms, you should invest in standby power.  

In 2023, there were 14 lightning fatalities in the United States and its territories, according to John Jensenius Jr. at the National Lightning Safety Council. Fatalities occurred in 10 states with Florida leading the nation with four fatalities followed by Texas with two fatalities. The remaining lightning deaths occurred in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia. Most deaths were men (11 of 14). Ages of the victims ranged from 6 to 73.

The monthly distribution of lightning deaths was a bit unusual with three deaths in April, four in May, one in June, one in July, four in August and two in September. Typically, June and July have the most lightning deaths.

Leisure-related activities led to six of the 14 deaths with three of those related to water activities, including fishing, boating, and swimming. The other three activities where people were hit and killed were hunting, golfing, and taking a work break outdoors. Work-related activities led to four fatalities and included roofing (2), ranching, and farming.

The remaining four fatalities were attributed to the victims’ normal daily routine and included walking home from the school bus stop (2), walking to/from a car, and driving (tree toppled by lightning struck car).
Okay, you ignored weather reports and warnings, but what if you’re fishing, golfing or at a party in the park when an active cloud moves into range?

If the sky looks threatening or you hear thunder in the distance, find a safe place immediately, says the Lightning Safety Council. Don’t ignore signs of an approaching storm and go inside. You should stay inside until the last thunder heard was 30 minutes before.

Should you do anything indoors for safety? Well, when lightning hits a building or home it attempts to find the ground. So, make sure you avoid contact with electrical devices, outlets, water, plumbing or metal surfaces. Stay away from windows and doors and again you should wait 30 minutes after that last thunder before going outside again.

Of course, thunderstorms, wind events and lightning can cause death and power outages. So, take care of yourself and take precautions. And to avoid power outages, get a standby generator for your business or a home standby generator for your house. We can help with industrial standby generators, click here to see our current inventory. Stay safe and don’t take your safety lightly.