Author: Karen Cohen
Article source: http://www.holisticjunction.com/. Used with author's permission.
Prevention is your best protection against lightning. Be sure to check
your local weather report before you head outside. Learn how to read
the sky and where to run for cover. Lightning can and does strike in the
same place twice, do not make yourself vulnerable by becoming a
target.
Reading the Sky Stay aware of the sky above you with your
eyes and ears. To estimate how far away a lightening storm is, count the
time between the lightning flash and the sound of thunder. Every five
seconds difference in time equals one mile in distance. If you hear
thunder 12 seconds after you see a flash, the lightning struck just over 2
miles away (2 2/5 miles).
Things and Places to Avoid - If lightning is moving
toward you, stay away from: Fences, metal pipes, clotheslines, power
lines, rails and other metallic paths that could carry lightning to you from
a distance.
- Natural lightning rods such as a tall isolated tree in
an open area.
- Metal objects you may be holding or carrying
(bicycles, ski poles, golf clubs, etc.).
- Isolated sheds or other
small structures in open areas.
Safe Havens The preferred (safest) place to be during a
lightning storm is inside a home, large building or a car (but, never a
convertible). - If you are miles from a suitable shelter, you must
seek refuge in low areas away from tall objects such as trees, towers, or
mountain ridges.
- In flat country, head for dense woods, ravines
or large groves of young trees.
- For shelter in the forest, find a
low area under a thick growth of small trees.
- If you are caught in
an open area, crouch in a low place like a valley or ravine. Be watchful
of flash floods.
Stuck in the Storm To do your best to avoid injury: |
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