Summer thunderstorms are frequently accompanied by lightning, which can be a killer. Whether indoors or out, telephone use should be avoided except in emergencies. Some experts also recommend unplugging computers and television sets. The dangers are greatest out-of-doors, however.
Here are some steps you can take to minimize the hazard when caught outdoors in a lightning storm:
• Find shelter—but avoid standing in small, isolated structures in open areas.
• Avoid standing under a natural lightning rod such as a tall, isolated tree in an open area.
• Avoid allowing your body to project above the landscape—such as by standing on a hilltop, in an open field or on the beach, or by fishing from a small boat.
• If you’re in the woods, find shelter in a low area under a thick growth of small trees.
• If you’re in an open area, go to a low place like a gully or ravine—but be alert for flash flooding, which is likely with heavy rainfall.
• Stay away from open water.
• Stay away from motorcycles, bikes, scooters, lawnmowers, and golf carts. (Golfers should put down their clubs and remove metal-spiked shoes.)
• Keep away from wire fences or clotheslines, metal pipes and rails, or any other metallic path that can carry lightning’s electrical charge to you from some distance.
Discussion
No comments yet.