I really dislike being outside if there is any lightning happening, and close house windows too during storms even if the rain is not coming in. I've always said though that my precautions are just sensible, and it's likely that more people are hurt by lightning than is commonly realised. (News stories of people hurt by lightning often get little attention, compared to roofs blown away or trees on houses that makes for more visual news stories arising out of storms.) Here's some evidence to back me up:
Over the weekend, Queensland Ambulance Service transported two patients to hospital after being struck by lightning within hours of each other, one while inside a car at Burpengary on the Bruce Highway and one in Eudlo while on an excavator.
In late December, two patients were taken to Mareeba Hospital in a serious condition after being hit while at a private residence.
In mid-December, a 10-year-old girl was taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a critical condition after being struck — the following day a man was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital after he was struck in Biggera Waters....
Mr Kirkby — who has worked in lightning protection services for more than 20 years — said while it was rare for people to be struck directly, there was still a significant risk of injury and death.
"This is one of the biggest fallacies out there, only three to five per cent of all statistics are people that are struck directly," he said.
"The majority of the injury and fatality statistics are from people that have been exposed to indirect strikes [when] the ground becomes highly electrified from a nearby lightning strike or if you're touching something which has been electrified."
My grandmother got a shock via her landline telephone, in fact, although as far as I know it led to no long term injury. (One good thing about mobile phones replacing landlines is that this must happen much, much less often now.)
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