When Thunder roars, You should go Indoors

This is National Lightning Safety Awareness Week. Started in 2001, this week calls attention to the dangers of lightning and seeking safety when thunderstorms threaten, tells Lee Ann Allegretto with the National Weather Service. “During National Lightning Safety Awareness Week, June 24-30, we encourage you to learn more about lightning and lightning safety. Lightning is a sudden discharge of electricity from the cloud to the ground and in the air. Lightning strikes the United States about 25 million times a year and of the hundreds that are severely injured about 49 people die. A common misconception is that all lightning strikes are fatal, the good news is that is not true. Researches in the Lightning Safety Community say that 90% of people struck by lightning survive. Of those that do survive, some are left with life-long neurological problems. Also a study published in the Journal of Neurologic Clinics, states that the primary cause of lightning death is cardiac arrest; basically, your heart and your breathing stops and you lose consciousness.” Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors. Find a safe, enclosed shelter.