awful warning about lightning.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

This came up on my fb feed
woman struck by lightning and killed

Happened in São Paulo.

We know it happens of course but the photographer caught the actual lightning strike.

:(

It illustrates the real reason why weather warnings are so important.

I ought to warn that it is a very horrible thing to look at. Perhaps I ought not to have posted it I think.

Holy fuck! :(

How graphic is it Kitten? Before I click.

It's not that graphic. But it's still horrific in its implication. The lady is standing in front of a car and you can't see her.

Thankyou...I clicked anyway, if you look at the video there is one more photo which is taken afterwards and she does not look too horribly injured, though clearly she did not survive - in the first two images it looks like she was vaporised or something.

I know, I thought that. Can that happen? People usually "just" get burned don't they? I remember years ago hearing about a farmer in the Derbyshire Dales who was struck, and his rubber wellies saved him. He was knocked out, and all his clothes burned off, but alive. There was a picture of him in the local paper holding the remains of his boots.

It's a funny thing, lightning. You hear of people surviving a strike, but of their minds being altered, personalities changing and so on.

I suspect it probably gave her a heart attack (though speculating isnt nice). It disrupts the nerves I think I dont know why they carried her off like that. Poor lady and really horrific for those there.

OK, naive question but what are we meant to do to avoid being struck by lightning?

Don't stand under trees in a storm. Don't be in water when there's lightening. You have to get out the outdoor pool in centre parcs if there's lightening.

Also don't be the highest object out in the open!

I don't think umbrellas actually really do make a difference to your risk, but I'd prefer not to carry one just in case!

I think I used to be told not to stand near a window to look at the lightning - any truth in that???

Don't play golf in a thunderstorm, they get the players in really quickly in tournaments if there's the slightest threat of thunder.

I remember lightening striking the outdoor pool at a campsite in France, we were sitting in the covered bar next to it and you could feel the change in the atmosphere, it was weird.

It is really pretty rare, I have to say decent presentation on lightning strikes

some really good advice and info

Redbushey, its fine to watch lightning from a window. Don't lean up against a radiator though whilst doing so!

I used to be a bit, meh about lightning until I saw a very well made documentary about it and I am now shit scared of it. One woman was struck in her lounge! Mum said the house got hit when I was a baby and it blew all the plugs out of the sockets in the entire house! The docu said to be afraid and if you can see it or hear it, you are at risk from it. I have never forgotten that.

My Nan used to cover up mirrors and scissors, fortunately my Dad made sure we knew the truth about lightening and what not to do so we weren't scared.

I think it is wise to treat lightning and storms in general with respect!

Half the reported cases do happen indoors, from contact with phones and other electrical equipment and also plumbing, but they do tend to be of a much more minor nature and seem to leave people with temporary mild burns or tingling or numbness (so I suspect the figures might be under reported)

My Nan used to hide the knives!

When you get struck by lightening, it's like those defibrillators they use on people in cardiac arrest - it sends an enormous bolt of electricity through your body.
So if you're wearing rubber boots, you're protected because the lightening will try and pass through you to the ground.
You can be struck and not killed, just burned. It depends on the trajectory it takes through your body.

We found ourselves out sailing under a ten metre mast miles from land during a lightning storm once. Nothing like that to set your nerves on edge. You have to trail metal in the water to earth the boat and make a Faraday cage.

I was cacking my pants. Every fork looked five metres away, though in reality the closest was probably half a mile or so.

I think that weather in general should be treated with respect, it's when people don't that they run into problems. I think we've got used to life generally being very safe so forget that the elements are not under our control. Doesn't mean we have to be scared of it, just be aware of the possible dangers.

Reading your link I wonder if that poor lass would have survived if she had been given CPR at the scene.

Well said NCIS.

Hester that would terrify me!

Rubber boots don't really provide protection. Lightning can jump gaps and still ground.

Reminds me of when I lived in Southampton, the main cemetry has a grave from 1950 of a 20 year old, killed by lightning in that very graveyard.

We were once swimming in an outdoor pool when there was no storm or anything but it was cloudy. All of a sudden a bolt of lighting shot across the top of the pool - I swam faster than I've ever swum in my life.