2024 National Lightning Safety Week
Let's keep those numbers down!
To kick off 2024 National Lightning Safety Week (June 23 - June 29, 2024), we had a big storm in the area last night, leading to stories like this:
Lightning Strike Causes Tree To Fall On Car In Mahopac
I haven’t heard of any deaths (yet).
If a death caused by a tree struck by lightning fell on somebody, that would be coded as W20.8, not X33, victim of lightning.
One of the biggest things, if one can, is to stay indoors when one can hear thunder.
When the storms kicked up yesterday, our ducks were still outside and we were considering bringing them inside…
BOOM
We told our middle child that we preferred fried duck to fried middle child, so let’s wait til the storm passed. (The ducks were just fine, by the way.)
NO PLACE OUTSIDE IS SAFE
when thunderstorms are in the area.
WHEN THUNDER ROARS, GO INDOORS!
Lightning Safety Council Announcement and Resources
National Lightning Safety Awareness week was started in 2001 to call attention to this underrated killer. Since then, U.S. lightning fatalities have dropped from about 55 per year to about 20. This reduction in fatalities is believed to be largely due to greater awareness of the lightning danger, and people seeking safety when thunderstorms threaten. During National Lightning Safety Awareness Week, we encourage you to learn more about lightning and lightning safety.
Resources for the week:
Prior Posts (and Graphs) on Lightning Deaths
March 2024:
January 2024:
August 2023:
June 2023:
Aren't your ducks smart enough to go indoors (whatever you call a coop for ducks) when there is lightning in the area?
I saw a headline saying 3 lightning injuries at the Traveler's Open. My reaction was- seriously?!? The golfers seem to have figured this stuff out already. A later headline said the injuries occurred "near" the open. Whatever sells...