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Severe Weather Information
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Lightning / Thunderstorms
- When should you seek shelter?
Lightning can strike as far as 10 miles from an area where it is raining. If you can hear thunder, you are within lightning’s striking distance. Seek shelter immediately. - Outdoor activities:
Minimize the risk of being struck by lightning. If you are boating or swimming, get out of your boat and away from water. Find shelter immediately. Most lightning deaths and injuries occur during the summer months. Where organized outdoor sports activities take place, coaches, camp counselors, and other adults must stop activities at the first sound of thunder. This ensures that everyone has time to get into a large building or enclosed vehicle. Leaders of outdoor events should have a written plan that all staff are aware of and enforce. - Indoor activities – things to avoid:
Inside buildings, stay off of corded phones, computers, and other electrical equipment that could potentially put you in direct contact with an electric current. Stay away from indoor or outdoor pools, tubs, showers, and other plumbing. Use surge suppressors for important equipment. Install ground fault protectors on circuits near water or outdoors. When inside, wait 30 minutes after the last strike before going out again. - Helping a lightning strike victim:
If a person is struck by lightning, call 911 and get medical care immediately. Cardiac arrest and heart rythm irregularities, burns, and nerve damage are common in cases where people are struck by lightning. However, with proper treatment, including CPR if necessary, most victims survive a lightning strike. You are in no danger helping a lighting victim. The charge will not affect you.
Thunderstorms with lightning are dangerous. With common sense, you can preserve your safety and the safety of those who are with you. At the first clap of thunder, go into a large building or a fully enclosed vehicle. Wait 30 minutes until after the last clap of thunder to go back outside.