My girlfriend was out in the woods having drinks at her friends campsite, when it started to thunder. She got worried and told her friend that they weren't safe sitting under the trees, and she came back to my Airstream, and her friend went inside her SOB to nap. A few minutes later the storm hit us hard. Thunder, lightning, wind, and sideways rain, for a good half an hour.
My friends were all glad that we stored and secured everything we could.
A few minutes after the storm blew past us, my girlfriends friend came down
to see us and she was visibly shaken. Lightning had struck a tree a few feet from her campsite. Bark and splinters were scatter all over the campsites.
Witnesses said that it was the brightest orange light that they had ever seen. The lightning seemed to travel under ground and " explode " under the womans mat. The lightning either melted or blew holes through the mat where the feet of the chairs were sitting. ( the exact chairs my girlfriend and her were sitting in a few minutes earlier). The chairs had what looked like " arc " burns on the legs. The Sob's electrical system is fried. Another camper at the other side of the park was hit and is still in the hospital while they are determining if his pacemaker is still funtioning. The soundman for the stage show was also hit while trying to zip up a canopy. People reported seeing a blue glow shooting across some wires leading to the soundman . They swear that they saw sparks shooting from the tips of his hair ( not sure I believe that one ) Moral of the story is.....Lightning is not a spectator sport!
Lightning is a killer. It claims more victims each year than do snowstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes. It keeps a low profile as the second largest weather-related killer, usually striking one person at a time. Only floods, which can wipe out towns, kill more people.
According to the U.S. National Weather Service, 73 people die from lightning strikes each year and hundreds more suffer life-debilitating injuries. Memory loss, attention deficits, sleep disorders, numbness, dizziness, and weakness are some of the maladies cited. The highest death rates from lightning in the United States are in Florida, which is known as the lightning capital of the country. According to the service, from 1959 to 2003 lightning killed 3,696 people in the United States. Of those, 425 were in the Sunshine State. (The only state that did not record a lightning death in the period was Alaska).
Having been struck by lightning twice, I can attest to it being nothing to mess with. I get inside a building or car and wait it out. Hopefully everyone that got zapped will be okay. Where were you playing when this happened?
Having been struck by lightning twice, I can attest to it being nothing to mess with. I get inside a building or car and wait it out. Hopefully everyone that got zapped will be okay. Where were you playing when this happened?
...and who says, lightning never strikes twice.....
Dunno about anyone else, but this answers a lot of questions for me about Terry!
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Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 1991
...and who says, lightning never strikes twice.....
Dunno about anyone else, but this answers a lot of questions for me about Terry!
Both times I got struck, I was inside a building. Once while working on a computer, the lightning followed the wiring inside to where I was, and the second time, I was on the phone, and lightning again followed the wires.
Terry, you have more than 9 lives and are tougher than Ford and Timex put together....you take a lickin' and keep on ticken buddy!
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Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 1991
Because lightning produces strong electrical fields, conductors of various kinds can act as antennas. Wearing an ipod or like device can be electrifying.
According to the NYT a man wearing an ipod while jogging was injured when lightning hit a nearby tree. The earpiece wires melted and burned traces up to his head where the earpieces popped and blew out both ear drums. The electricity also activated his jaw muscles and fractured his jaw. Conductive materials on the body are just not a good idea during lighning storms.
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"Not all who are lost are wondering" say Bill & Heidi
'78 Excella 500,"The Silver Pullit". vacuum over hydraulic disc brakes, center bath, rear twin. '67 Travelall 1200 B 4X4 WBCCI 3737
The lightning storm happenened at the Appalachian Fiddle and Bluegrass Associations Bluegrass Festival at Mountainview Park in Wind Gap Pennsylvania. The people who were struck were all in the midst of securing
awnings and such. ( there might be a lesson there....life and limb are more important than awnings ). New Jersey and Pennsylvania authorities were
broadcasting weather warnings and advising people to take off rings and jewlery even if you were inside the house. BUT NO ONE told me to put the mandolin down. I did hear a few people discussing what a good lightning rod a banjo would make. ( add one to the jokes about banjos) Anyway I was trying to remember the advice I read here on the forum about how safe it was to be in an Airstream. I went back to the posts when I got home, and still can't figure out what the bottom line is on that topic.
P.S. I will scream if someone ( Andy ) says that balanced running gear will protect me from lightning!!!!!
Because lightning produces strong electrical fields, conductors of various kinds can act as antennas. Wearing an ipod or like device can be electrifying.
According to the NYT a man wearing an ipod while jogging was injured when lightning hit a nearby tree. The earpiece wires melted and burned traces up to his head where the earpieces popped and blew out both ear drums. The electricity also activated his jaw muscles and fractured his jaw. Conductive materials on the body are just not a good idea during lighning storms.
This would appear to be the incident that happened in Burnaby, BC, Canada. The wounded individual, a doctor, has had more than 50% hearing loss out of this and had a ton of pain and treatment. He still apparently wears an iPod while jogging. Recently near Edmonton, AB, Canada a pregnant woman was hit and killed. Lightening is beautiful to watch, but it's dangerous as can be. I'd also be interested in knowing what the thought is about which is safer during a lightening storm - the Airstream or the TV. Not that I intend to hide in the TV while it rains with a perfectly good trailer sitting right there with even more perfect mattresses to have a snooze on while it's storming outside....
I recently watched an episode on TV where they did some testing and research of the effect of being struck by lightning while wearing an iPod. The person they were highlighting was a teenage boy who had been struck while wearing his. He had minor burn marks where the wires ran up his clothing. Their conclusion was that the iPod possibly saved his life, diverting the current along the surface of his body, rather than affecting vital organs.
Just another possibility, I hope I never test the theory....
Dave
Ya know, Dave, if your running gear were properly balanced, it would throw the lightning off your wheels onto someone else's coach, thereby saving you from costly repairs...
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