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11 Crazy Facts About Getting Struck By Lightning (And How To Avoid It)
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CC BY 2.0 Carolina Ödman/Flickr
The year was 1969 when Steve Marshburn was struck by lightning. He wasn’t out golfing or fishing, he was working inside a bank. Lightning found a path through an underground speaker at the drive-through window and worked its way to the stool where he sat.
“I still have the migraines,” Marchburn told NPR. “The lightning – when it hit my back, it went up my spine, went to the left side of my brain and scorched it, came down, went out my right hand that was holding a metal teller stamp.”
Which goes to show, lightning is an unruly beast; hard to predict and filled with surprises. And according to the National Weather Service, so far this year lightning strikes have killed at least 20 people in the United States, which is almost double the norm. Behind those strikes are some pretty wild facts. Consider the following:
- Lightning strikes the United States about 25 million times a year. Although most lightning occurs in the summer, people can be struck at any time of year.
- The idea of a lightning bolt finding and striking a person directly seems so random, but in fact, most people who were hurt or injured weren’t struck directly. People can fall victim to lightning striking a nearby object when the current jumps, as well as through conduction and ground current.
- Because ground current strikes affect a much larger area than the other causes of lightning casualties – the current travels over the surface of the ground – this type causes the most lightning deaths and injuries. It’s especially bad for livestock.
- As evidenced by Marshburn’s experience, you don’t have to be outside to be harmed by nearby lightning.
- Brain injuries are the more common injury – rather than burns – from lightning strikes.
Source: http://truthisscary.com/2015/07/11-crazy-facts-about-getting-struck-by-lightning-and-how-to-avoid-it/
