With another week of the summer Chasing4Life tour schedule behind us, it is hard to believe all that has happened and all the new friends we have made! From Shenendoah, Iowa to Sterling, Colorado, this tour has been full of storms and learning and sometimes both at the same time! With the KRVN listening area finally getting a slight break in the severe weather starting this morning, other places in the country are now dealing with high winds, flooding, tornadoes, hail and of course...lightning.
This week is Lightning Safety Awareness Week and the team is out and touring passing along the message that "When thunder roars...GO INDOORS!" We have had a great response from young and old alike as we have incorporated the National Weather Service messages on lightning into the events!
The awareness campaign bean on Monday along with the start of summer. Summer is the peak season for one of the nation's deadliest weather phenomena— lightning. But don't be fooled, lightning strikes year round. In the United States, an average of 58 people are killed each year by lightning.
According to the NWS, there have been 9 deaths in 2010 from lightning strikes!
Hundreds of people are permanently injured each year. People struck by lightning suffer from a variety of long-term, debilitating symptoms, including memory loss, attention deficits, sleep disorders, chronic pain, numbness, dizziness, stiffness in joints, irritability, fatigue, weakness, muscle spasms, depression, and more.
The National Weather Service website created for the awareness campaign states that lightning is an underrated killer because it does not do wide spread damage and so does not get the attention it deserves.
Some tips the NWS has put together for this week are well-worth reading. As we tour the mountain ranges in Colorado, you can bet we're gonna be watching ourselves!
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- Watch for Developing Thunderstorms: Thunderstorms are most likely to develop on spring or summer days but can occur year round. As the sun heats the air, pockets of warmer air start to rise and cumulus clouds form. Continued heating can cause these clouds to grow vertically into towering cumulus clouds, often the first sign of a developing thunderstorm.
- When to Seek Safe Shelter: Lightning can strike as far as 10 miles from the area where it is raining. That's about the distance you can hear thunder. If you can hear thunder, you are within striking distance. Seek safe shelter immediately.
- Outdoor Activities: Minimize the risk of being struck. Most lightning deaths and injuries occur in the summer. Where organizedoutdoor sports activities take place, coaches, camp counselors and other adults must stop activities at the first roar of thunder to ensure everyone has time to get to a large building or enclosed vehicle. Leaders of outdoors events should have a written plan that all staff are aware of and enforce.
- Indoor Activities: Inside buildings, stay off corded phones, computers and other electrical equipment that put you in direct contact with electricity. Stay away from pools (indoor or outdoor), tubs, showers and other plumbing. Buy surge suppressors for key equipment. Install ground fault protectors on circuits near water or outdoors. When inside, wait 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder, before going outside again.
- Helping a Lightning Strike Victim: Lightning victims do not carry an electrical charge, are safe to touch, and need urgent medical attention. Cardiac arrest is the immediate cause of death for those who die. Some deaths can be prevented if the victim receives the proper first aid immediately. Call 9-1-1 immediately and perform CPR if the person is unresponsive or not breathing. Use an Automatic External Defibrillator if one is available.
- Summary: With common sense, you can greatly increase your safety and the safety of those you are with. At the first clap of thunder, go to a large building or fully enclosed vehicle and wait 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder before you to go back outside.
When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!
Sources: Chasing4Life/NWS
