Johnson County Emergency Management & Homeland Security would like to announce that Lightning Safety Awareness Week was June 21-27. Unfortunately, lightning has claimed the life of one Kansan already this year. Summer is the peak season for lightning, one of weather's most deadly occurrences. Between the years of 1959 and 2009, 64 people have been killed in Kansas and hundreds injured.
Each year, more than 400 people in the United States are struck by lightning while working outside, at sports events, on the beach, out at the lake, mowing the lawn or during other outdoor activities.
Lightning often strikes as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall. Many deaths from lightning occur ahead of the storm because people try and wait to the last minute before seeking shelter. If you can hear thunder, lightning is close enough that it could strike your location at any moment. Every flash of lightning is dangerous, even the first. Head to safety before that first flash occurs. Lightning can travel sideways for up to 10 miles. Even when the sky looks blue and clear, be cautious. At least 10 percent of lightning occurs without visible clouds overhead in the sky.
The most dangerous place to be in the event of a storm is outside. You want to first seek shelter in a sturdy, closed building that contains a mechanism for conducting the electrical current from the point of contact to the ground. Avoid sheds, picnic shelters, baseball dugouts, bleachers, open carports, garages and covered patios, which are not safe from lightning strikes. If no enclosed building is accessible, get inside a hard-topped all-metal vehicle.
If you can't get to a sturdy shelter or all-metal vehicle, crouch down low in an open area. Stay at least twice as far away from trees as they are tall. Since water is an excellent conductor of electricity, avoid standing in or near puddles. Also, remember to avoid holding anything that will conduct or even attract lightning, such as golf clubs or fishing poles.
A phrase to remember to help you stay safe during when around lightning is: “If you can hear it (thunder), clear it. If you can see it (lightning), flee it!”
For more information about lightning safety awareness, visit the National Weather Service's web page on lightning safety
www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov or visit
www.jocoem.org.
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