It's getting to be that time of year
To date, two people have been killed by lightning in 2010 and 24 have been injured. As we head into the summer, those numbers are destined to spike thanks to the increasing prevalence of afternoon thunderstorms and the simple fact that more people are spending time out of doors. In fact, June, July, and August account for 73% of reported lightning strike incidents.
True, your odds of getting struck are fairly low (about one in 500,000 in any given year) and much better if you don’t live in Florida, Michigan, New York, or Texas. If you get unlucky, you still have a nine-in-ten chance of surviving the strike. However, lightning strike survivors are very often never the same as before, suffering ongoing symptoms including memory loss, headaches, fatigue, depression, joint pain, and insomnia. (Heightened extra-sensory powers have also been reported, but don’t count on it.)
So how do you avoid becoming a statistic? You’ve probably heard all this before, but as a public service we’ll run a few reminders by you. Read More …
