Muscat: The best way to stay safe in the event of a thunder flash – stay indoors. Although they last just 0.1 to 0.01 seconds, lightning strikes carry an amount of energy greater than 10 million volts.
The odds of being struck by lightning each year are less than 1 in a million, some factors can put you at greater risk, according to Centres of Disease Control and Prevention of the US. Lightning most often strikes people who work outside or engage in outdoor activities.
Find a safe, enclosed shelter like homes, offices, shopping centres, and hard-top vehicles with the windows rolled up.
The most important action is to remove yourself from danger. Crouching or getting low to the ground can reduce your chances of being struck but does not remove you from danger.
If you are caught outside with no safe shelter nearby, the following actions may reduce your risk:
1.Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges, or peaks.
2. Never lie flat on the ground. Crouch down in a ball-like position with your head tucked and hands over your ears so that you are down low with minimal contact with the ground.
3. Never shelter under an isolated tree.
4.Immediately get out of and away from ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water.
5. Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (such as barbed wire fences, power lines, or windmills).
6.If you are in a group during a thunderstorm, separate from each other. This will reduce the number of injuries if lightning strikes the ground.
7.If you are out in the open water and a storm rolls in, return to shore immediately.
8. Stay away from tall structures, such as telephone poles and trees; lightning tends to strike the tallest object around.
Being indoors does not automatically protect you from lightning. In fact, about one-third of lightning-strike injuries occur indoors. Here are more tips to
1. Do not bathe, shower, wash dishes, or have any other contact with water during a thunderstorm. Lightning can travel through plumbing.
2, Avoid using electronic equipment of all types. Do not use anything connected to an electrical outlet, such as computers, laptops, game systems, washers, dryers, or stoves. Lightning can travel through electrical systems and radio and television reception systems.
3. Avoid using corded phones. Corded phones are not safe to use during a thunderstorm. However, cordless or mobile phones are safe to use during a storm.
4. Do not lie on concrete floors or lean on concrete walls during a thunderstorm. Lightning can travel through any metal wires or bars in concrete walls or flooring.
Lightning strikes may be rare, but they still happen, and the risk of serious injury or death is severe.
If a person is struck by lightning, it can cause cardiac arrest, which stops a person’s body from circulating blood and cause direct injury to the brain and nervous system.
Strikes can also cause a brain haemorrhage or stroke, as well as tissue injuries and deep thermal burns within the body.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
