![]() "It's a question of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Jensenius said. Such accidents can often be avoided by attending to weather warnings and practicing proper lightning safety, Jensenius of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. Texas receives more lightning strikes each year than any other state, about 1.9 million, with Florida in second place with about 1.3 million strikes. But people who spend significant amounts of time outside, particularly in areas where there is a lot of lightning activity, are most at risk. There is no way to predict how a bolt of lightning will behave for any particular person, based on age or height or medical condition. The most fortunate people are those for whom the lightning travels over the skin rather than through the body, leaving them with damage, but largely in the form of burns. Although Adler said these kinds of strikes account for only 4 percent of all reported strikes, they are the most dangerous. Jonathan Adler, an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.Īccording to John Jensenius, a lightning safety expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average lightning bolt carries 20,000 to 30,000 amperes of charge and about 300 million volts.Ī direct hit occurs when all of the lightning's energy is directed through the body or over the body on the skin. "Lightning is a much larger problem than most people think," said Dr. Yet the awesome electrical power of a lightning bolt, whether it hits a person directly or indirectly, can leave significant, lasting physical and mental damage, including burns, vision loss and personality changes. ![]() Lightning is second only to floods as the deadliest natural threat, claiming about 58 lives each year, according to data from the National Weather Service. June 5, 2009— - After Tuesday's lightning strike, 12-year-old Chelal Matos' death in Virginia's Spotsylvania County brought the tally of lightning-related fatalities to six this year, including a woman who was killed by an indirect lightning strike in California last month. ![]()
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