Crack! Increase! We’re knee-deep within the every day summer time thunderstorm season in Florida. The clouds roll in and, with them, you usually see lightning within the distance. Then comes the thunder. With 50 deaths from 2015-2024, Florida leads the nation in lightning-related fatalities, in accordance with the Lightning Security Council. It’s not only a matter of private security. Lightning prompted about $1.2 billion value of harm in 2023 alone.
In June, a 29-year-old Colorado man was standing in ankle-deep water at New Smyrna Seaside when, at nearly 12:30 within the afternoon, a bolt of lightning struck him. Paramedics have been instantly referred to as because the sufferer lay unconscious and in cardiac arrest on the sand, the highly effective lighting blast intensified by the water’s conductivity. His pulse was restored and he was rushed to an area hospital. Solely minutes later, two golfers on the close by Venetian Bay Golf Course have been not directly struck, in accordance with information experiences. Luckily, neither was severely injured or required medical consideration.
Lara Milligan and Shannon Carnevale, UF/IFAS Extension pure assets brokers, just lately hosted a “Naturally Florida” podcast episode in regards to the sometimes-scary phenomenon. “We notice that many readers and listeners are new to Florida, and as somebody who has volunteered with many households who aren’t from Florida, I believe our pop-up storms are a really distinctive function these people is probably not aware of,” Milligan says. So, we requested Milligan and Carnevale to bust a number of lightning myths.
Fable: As soon as inside, lightning can’t hurt me.
Reality: Whereas indoors, the opportunity of lightning harming an individual is low, however you’re by no means utterly out of hurt’s method. If lightning strikes the home or the construction’s energy supply, electrical energy can journey down a wire and attain an individual holding a plugged-in machine. So, keep away from holding such gadgets throughout a storm. Additionally, don’t bathe throughout lightning storms as a result of water conducts electrical energy.
Fable: I’m looking for shelter wherever. What a couple of tree? I’ll be protected as a result of lightning will strike the tree, not me.
Reality: Don’t take shelter beneath a tree. When lightning strikes a tree, it will probably journey down the trunk into its root system and unfold into the encompassing space. If the lightning travels into the foundation system, then electrocution by the bottom present is feasible.
Fable: It’s simply beginning to thunder, or it’s just a bit thunder. I’m high-quality.
Reality: When you hear thunder, you’re shut sufficient to be struck by lightning. Because the saying goes, “When thunder roars, go indoors.”
The most secure place to be throughout a thunderstorm is inside a constructing, Carnevale provides. When you hear thunder or see lightning, it’s time to go inside. When you’re distant from buildings, moving into a totally enclosed automobile is usually a protected place. When you’re in a ship or swimming, get out of the water as quickly as attainable and head inside.
Carnevale gives some further security suggestions earlier than venturing out, together with: keep indoors till half-hour after the thunder stops; have a dependable supply of communication comparable to a charged cellphone; and should you’re going out within the wilderness, inform another person in regards to the basic space you can be, and the anticipated time you’ll return. “I don’t suppose folks have to worry lightning, however I do suppose a wholesome quantity of respect for its energy is acceptable,” she says. “Don’t put your self in danger; have a lightning plan in case you are planning to benefit from the open air throughout storm season.”
Want extra convincing? In July, three folks have been struck by lightning on the St. Augustine Pier. One man, in his 80s, was rushed to a trauma middle for severe accidents. The Pier was closed following the strike.