# Presentation: 947217

## Lightning Safety Training               for Schools

- National Weather Service Jacksonville, FL

- Photo from Hackensack Fire Dept.

## Overview

- Lightning Statistics
- Lightning Physics and Terms
- The Consequences of a Strike
- Threats to Schools
- Outdoor Athletics & Recess
- Water Activities
- Loading/Unloading Buses
- Safety Actions
- 30-30 Rule
- Safe & Unsafe Locations near Storms
- Action Plans
- First Aid for Strike Victims
- Resources

## Lightning is the Nation’s Underrated Killer

- Causes more U.S. deaths than tornadoes &  hurricanes combined
- The #1 weather killer in Florida
- Causes Life-Long, Debilitating Injuries
- Annual U.S. Strikes Kill ~100 and Injure ~1,000
- Causes $5 billion/year in economic damage

- Image c/o NLSI

## School Activities Put Students at Risk

- Unreported, 40%

- Open Fields, 27%

- Radio, < 1%

- Machinery, 3%

- Telephone, < 2.7%

- Under Trees, 14%

- Water Related, 8%

- Golf, 5%

- Data From NLSI

- The #1 location for lightning deaths is in open fields, which includes athletic fields.
- The #3 location for lightning deaths is water related, which includes swimming pools.
- The number one cause of indoor lightning deaths is using a corded telephone.

## Possible Resistance when Promoting Lightning Safety

- Some may say...
- Lightning is not an important hazard.  FALSE!
- Truth:  It is second only to floods as the leading cause of weather related deaths in the U.S.  Safety plans are developed for tornadoes and hurricanes, but lightning is a more common and deadly hazard in the U.S.
- There is nothing you can do about lightning.  FALSE!
- Truth:   Almost all lightning casualties are preventable.  If thunder is heard, go indoors immediately.  Most deaths occur before and after a storm.
- Litigation Fear:  It is better to do nothing, than to do something and fail.
- Truth:  Failure to take prudent and protective actions is chargeable negligence which could warrant a law suit.

- From Roeder, 45th Wx Squadron Patrick AFB

## Electrical Current

- When the negative charge in the cloud becomes great enough, it seeks an easy path to the positively charged ground below.
- The current looks for a good conductor of electricity, or a tall structure anchored to the ground (such as a tree or a tall building). The negative charge sends out a feeler, called a *stepped leader*, which is a series of invisible *steps* of negative charges.
- As the stepped leader nears the ground, a positive *streamer* reaches up for it. Only then, once this *channel* is made, does the visible lightning happen. A *return stroke* runs from the *ground to the clouds* in a spectacular flash.

- From NASA

## Electrical Current Disperses

- Strong electrical charge from a nearby strike travels through the ground and other conductive mediums. The charge will electrocute life within its path.

- Lightning struck the flag pole.  The orange grass shows the path that the electrical current traveled as it “fried” the grass.

- Lightning struck the fence.  The current traveled down the fence and electrocuted the cows that were near the fence.

## When Thunder Roars...Go Indoors!

-   Thunder is a sound wave created by a shock wave produced by the hot bolt of lightning.
-   Flash-to-Bang:  Count the number of seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the  thunder.  The quotient will be an approximation of how far the storm is from you (in miles).
-   If you hear thunder, then you are at risk of being struck by lightning!

- The sound of thunder travels ~ 1 mi in 5 sec

- The Flash-to-Bang Method

## Bolt from the Blue

**+**

- This type of bolt is called a “Bolt from the Blue” because quite often the victim claims that there was not a cloud in the sky.  A ground strike was recorded up to 60 miles away from the cloud that produced it (rare)!

- Lightning can emanate from the upper level cloud of the storm and strike the ground well away from where it is raining; even where there are clouds.

## Heat Lightning

- Heat lightning is lightning from a distant thunderstorm.  Thunder is not heard.  There is not an immediate threat of lightning striking your immediate area, but be aware of the direction the storm is  traveling.

## Strikes to Humans

- 84% of victims are male
- Months of most instances: Jun 21%, Jul 30%, Aug 22%
- Time of Day of most instances: 2-6 pm
- 20% of victims are struck dead; the other 80% often suffer life-long debilitating neurological problems
- Lightning strikes are not the same as electrical shocks: the strike burns body tissue from the entry point (typically the head) through the exit point.
- Strike survivors may chronically experience all or some of the following:  coma, seizures, brain damage, cardiac dysfunction, deafness, severe ocular damage, amnesia, sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, chronic pain.

- Victims Do Not Carry Electrical Charge!  Administer CPR as soon as possible!

## Some Concerns to Address a                        Lightning Safety Action Plan

-   Will bus loading and departure be delayed if there is a lightning threat to students and faculty?   What about parent pick-up and/or the departure of students who drove their own vehicles?
-   Where will spectators go at large outdoor events?   Will there be adequate shelter?
-   Will buses be used as shelter for students when it is unsafe to depart?
-   How will you communicate lightning alerts to a large and/or noisy crowd?
-   Will the audience know how to react when they hear the lightning alert?   Will they know where to seek shelter?

## Outdoor Events + Lightning = A Deadly Combo

- Outdoor events (athletic games and recess)  put students, faculty and spectators at risk of being struck by lightning.
- Many stadium facilities have metal bleachers and long metal fences which may be excellent conductors of an electric charge.
- Wet athletic fields will conduct an electrical strike.
- Many playgrounds are built in expansive flat fields and have tall metal structures.

## Lightning and Water Activities

- People & objects in or near water are at a high risk of being electrocuted. They are often the tallest objects in the area.

## Loading/Unloading Buses

- Although fully enclosed vehicles are one of the last places to seek refuge from lightning,  the metal enclosure can serve as a shell around you if lightning strikes the vehicles.

- Passengers are at risk of feeling the charge if they are touching the metal of the vehicle and are vulnerable to lightning when loading and unloading.

## Official Safety Recommendation:  The 30-30 Rule

-   Use the ‘30-30 Rule’ to determine if lightning is a threat.
-   The 30-30 Rule:  If the number of seconds between seeing the lightning flash and hearing thunder is 30 seconds or less, then seek shelter immediately.  Your lightning safety plan should be executed and those vulnerable to a strike should be evacuated to safety.
-  If you cannot see the lightning but hear thunder, then you are close enough to be struck by lightning.  Execute your lightning safety plan immediately.
-   Wait at least 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder before leaving the shelter area.

- The 30-30 Rules is not too conservative.  Most lightning strikes to humans occur before and after the storm.

- From Roeder, 45th Wx Squadron Patrick AFB

## Shelter Areas

-  No place outside near a storm is safe from lightning.
-  Buildings are much safer than vehicles.
-  Vehicles offer some safety.
-  If caught outside in a storm, the last resort is to get low to the ground.

**Substantial Building with wiring and plumbing**

- From Roeder, 45th Wx Squadron Patrick AFB

## Unsafe Shelter Areas

-  All outdoor metal objects like flag poles, fences, gates, mast light poles, metal bleachers, golf cars, picnic shelters, machinery.
-  Avoid trees, water, open fields, high ground.

- NLSI

- Daily Mail

## Safe Shelter Areas

-   Substantial Buildings (a lot of wiring and plumbing) away from windows, plugged-in appliances, off cordless phones and out of bathrooms and kitchens.
-  The low ground. Seek cover in areas of bushes (not under trees).

- Photo Michael Thompson

- NLSI

## Indoor Lightning Safety

-   Do not use corded telephones
-   Do not use wired electrical appliances
-   TVs, VCRs, And TV Cables
-   Computers
-   Light Switches
-   Electrical Outlets
-   Do not use plumbing
-   Showers
-   Sinks
-   Rest Rooms
-   Pools (indoors too)
-   Stay away from windows and doors
-   Interior rooms are safer

## First Aid for Strike Victims

-   Lightning Strike Victims DO NOT carry electrical current after they are struck!  You will not be shocked nor electrocuted if you touch them.
-   90% of strike victims will survive.  Fatal strikes cause cardiac arrest, thus the sooner CPR can be performed on the victim the better chance for their survival.
-   Ensure your own safety first before you attempt to help the victim.  Make sure that there are no live wires.
-   Call 911 and administer CPR immediately.

## Lightning Alerts

-   The National Weather Service (NWS) does NOT issued Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for Lightning (only for large hail and damaging winds)
-   Florida NWS offices monitor lightning frequency in storms and will issue a Special Weather Statement for storms that produce excessive lightning.  You will hear this statement on NOAA Wx Radio or can read it on the internet.
-   Lightning Detectors can serve as a secondary means of alerting you to the possibility of lightning. The first method should be visually scanning the sky and monitoring the forecast.
-   There are some lightning notification services available for a fee.  These services use the National Lightning Detection Network and will send you an email, page or fax to alarm you when lightning has been detected near your location.

## Lightning Safety Plan Recommendations

- Designate a responsible person as the weather safety lookout. This person will monitor the weather.
- We suggest access to a NOAA Weather Radio and/or access to the Weather Channel.
- 30-30 Rule: When thunder and/or lightning are first observed, use the Flash-to-Bang method to determine about how far away the storm is from you. A Flash-to-Bang count of 30 seconds would approximate the distance of the storm as being 6 miles away, and it is recommended to evacuate the outdoor facility immediately when this criteria is met. Spectators should be evacuated to safe, indoor shelter.
- Outdoor activities should be suspended until 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder is heard.
- Promote Lightning Safety Education!

- “If you can see it, flee it.                             If you can hear it, clear it.”

## Lightning and Pessimism

- From Roeder, 45th Wx Squadron Patrick AFB

## Resources

- National Weather Service Lightning Safety  www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov
- National Lightning Safety Institute www.lightningsafety.com
- NLSI Personal Lightning Safety Resources
-     www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls.html
- William Roeder, Lightning Safety for Schools Presentation
- Angela Enyedi, NWS Jacksonville, Florida angela.enyedi@noaa.gov