Lightning strikes are an inherent part of thunderstorms. According to the National Weather Service, an average of 30 people died each year from lightning strikes in the United States from 2007 to 2016. When a thunderstorm occurs, it’s important to find shelter immediately and exercise caution. Follow the tips below to stay safe from lightning:
Lightning Safety Indoors
- If you are outdoors, immediately move to a safe shelter, such as your home.
- Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches, too.
- Don’t touch anything that uses electricity, such as TVs, computers, and cords. Avoid corded phones; use mobile or cordless phones instead.
- Don’t use the plumbing in your home — don’t use the sink in the bathroom or kitchen, and don’t take a shower.
- Lightning can travel through metal wires or bars in concrete walls or flooring. Avoid leaning on concrete walls and lying on concrete floors.
- Take your dog inside during thunderstorms. Dogs that are chained to trees are vulnerable to lightning strikes. Read more pet emergency preparedness tips here.
- Don’t unplug electrical equipment during a thunderstorm to avoid the risk of being struck by lightning.
Lightning Safety Outdoors
- If you’re outside and can’t find a safe, enclosed shelter:
- Don’t stay in open fields and get off elevated areas like mountain ridges or hills. Don’t use cliffs or rocky overhangs as shelter.
- Don’t stay near things that can conduct electricity, such as power lines, wire fences, metal pipes, rails, and other metallic paths.
- Get off and away from motorcycles, scooters, golf carts, and bicycles.
- Stay away from water and wet items as water is also an electricity conductor. Get out of bodies of water like ponds and lakes.
- If you’re in a forest, go in a low area under a thick growth of small trees. In open areas, go to a low place such as a ravine or a valley. Be alert for flash floods.
- Never shelter under an isolated tree as they act as natural lightning rods.
Check out more tips to protect your home from spring storms and flooding here. If your property is damaged during the storm, learn what to do here. For flood water damage repair and mold remediation service, contact your local PuroClean office.
