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Lightning Strikes

A lucky escape

Nine British sailing enthusiasts survived when lightning destroyed their yacht off Thailand at the weekend.

They were rescued by fishermen before their catamaran turned into a burning wreck in Phang Nga Bay. A church minister praised the holidaymakers, who included architects, lawyers and accountants, for their professionalism and teamwork.

The accident happened on Saturday at 4.30pm when a tropical storm struck the coast near Phuket. As their chartered 50ft vessel was rocked by the winds and thunder sounded overhead, the four couples and a woman took refuge below the deck of Emmjay, manufactured by the French yacht builder Bénéteau, police said.

When lightning struck, local fishermen raced to save them. Police received a mayday call at 5pm and coastguards were sent to assist. The holidaymakers were taken ashore uninjured but the scale of the near-disaster became evident as the vessel burnt.


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...er-lightning-sets-yacht-ablaze-n56gvqq5n?t=ie
 
Walker struck by lightning dies in Scottish Highlands
  • 6 hours ago


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Image copyrightBRISTOW HELICOPTERSImage captionSeven walkers were airlifted to safety but a 55-year-old woman died of her injuries
A woman has died after being struck by lightning in the Scottish Highlands.
A group of seven walkers were on Na Gruagaichean, a mountain near Ben Nevis in north-west Scotland, when lightning struck on Saturday, police said.
The party were all airlifted to Fort William but the 55-year-old died of her injuries, Police Scotland said.
Another woman in the group who was also struck by lightning is in a stable condition in Belford Hospital, Fort William.
The next-of-kin of the woman who died have been informed.
etc

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48571286
 
A few weeks ago, we were woken up by a gigantic thunder boomer that pretty much came out of nowhere. I could hear the storm was quite distant but this strike sounded like it was in the backyard. My husband said it was the front yard. Neither of us remembers seeing a flash, just the sound - I was certainly awake before it hit. We went to check to see if anything was smoking outside. Nothing. Later we heard that the same incident was described by people several miles away as if it was right in their vicinity as well, they thought a bomb went off. This makes me think it was a positive lightning strike. These are much stronger than the usual negative strikes and are very loud. They occur outside of the time the storm itself passes over.
 
Even if the lightning bolt doesn't hit you directly, it can leave you without a pot to pee in ...
Florida woman says toilet explodes after lightning strike

A Florida woman says lightning destroyed her septic tank and caused a toilet in her house to explode.

Marylou Ward tells television station WINK News that the sole toilet in her Port Charlotte home was shattered into hundreds of pieces on Sunday.

Ward says the explosion was the loudest sound she’s ever heard, and that she also smelled smoke. She says a plumber told her lightning hit the methane gas that was built up in the pipes from feces.

Ward says she’ll have to get the toilet and septic system repaired, but she’s thankful no one was injured.

SOURCE: https://www.apnews.com/4a03cf3994504adaae10c510cedcd79f
 
Back in the mid-Nineties we had an office block in Boringtown centre. In the car park were three huge trees. From memory, they were eighty to a hundred feet tall.

One night there was a lightning storm, and the centre tree was struck and exploded.

The following day I was walking the beat, and visited the locus. The ninety (?) foot tree was now a ten-foot (?) stump. Splinters ranging from finger-size to feet-long spears had been blasted for hundreds of feet in all directions, some buried deep into the ground. I well remember that one of the six-foot lances had been blown 50 yards (?) away, and had penetrated the tile roof of a nearby flat block. Anyone unfortunate enough to have been in the area would have had an excellent chance of being kebabbed.

I carefully preserved a piece which I still have, because of the old tradition that - as "lightning never strikes the same place twice" :rolleyes: - a house with a piece of lightning tree in it will never be struck by lightning:

Lightning-tree-bolt.jpg


maximus otter
 
Back in the mid-Nineties we had an office block in Boringtown centre. In the car park were three huge trees. From memory, they were eighty to a hundred feet tall.

One night there was a lightning storm, and the centre tree was struck and exploded.

The following day I was walking the beat, and visited the locus. The ninety (?) foot tree was now a ten-foot (?) stump. Splinters ranging from finger-size to feet-long spears had been blasted for hundreds of feet in all directions, some buried deep into the ground. I well remember that one of the six-foot lances had been blown 50 yards (?) away, and had penetrated the tile roof of a nearby flat block. Anyone unfortunate enough to have been in the area would have had an excellent chance of being kebabbed.

I carefully preserved a piece which I still have, because of the old tradition that - as "lightning never strikes the same place twice" :rolleyes: - a house with a piece of lightning tree in it will never be struck by lightning:

Lightning-tree-bolt.jpg


maximus otter

You could probably sell stuff like that on eBay. Ancient wood imbued with the mystic awesome explodey energy of thunderbolts or something.
 
A guy I know (he was a teacher) was on the top floor of the institution he taught in, close to a window, when the building was struck by lightning. It knocked him to the floor and he claims he was unconscious for around 10 minutes before coming to with severely diminished hearing. He was subsequently medically pensioned off as a result.
 
because of the old tradition that - as "lightning never strikes the same place twice" :rolleyes: - a house with a piece of lightning tree in it will never be struck by lightning:

Excepting though, that this is false.

I really am fascinated by, and extremely sympathetic to, the poor people who have been repeatedly struck. Horrifying.
 
Sad news

Four rare mountain gorillas, including a pregnant female, have died in Uganda after being hit by lightning, a conservation group says.

The three adult females and a male infant were found in Uganda's Mgahinga National Park with "gross lesions" on their bodies indicating electrocution. The Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) called this a "big loss for the species". There are just over 1,000 mountain gorillas in existence. The species is restricted to protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51425617
 
He made a wee mistake.

German politician dies after being struck by lightning when he nipped for a wee during a barbecue with friends
  • Local politician Nico K, 44, was member of the Christian Democratic Union Party
  • He died while relieving himself during a reported garden party in Hoehnstedt
  • He was reportedly standing under a high-voltage power line when lightning hit
By AMELIA WYNNE FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 15:51, 15 June 2020 | UPDATED: 16:00, 15 June 2020


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-lightning.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline
 
Shocking news.

More than 100 people in northern India have been killed by dozens of lightning strikes across two states in recent days, officials say.

The disaster management team in Bihar state said 83 were killed there, while another 20 were in hospital with injuries.

At least 20 more people are reported dead in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

Lightning strikes are common in India during heavy monsoon rains.

Meanwhile the rain and thunderstorms have caused widespread damage to trees and property.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53186072
 
The WMO (World Meteorological Organization) recognizes the following lightning mortality records based on a 2017 assessment of documented deadly weather events:

Highest mortality (indirect strike) associated with lightning:
469 people killed in a lightning-caused oil tank fire in Dronka, Egypt, on 2 November 1994;

Highest mortality directly associated with a single lightning flash:
21 people killed by a single stroke of lightning in a hut in Manica Tribal Trust Lands in Zimbabwe (at the time of incident, Rhodesia) on 23 December 1975; ...

SOURCE: https://public.wmo.int/en/media/pre...ls-from-tropical-cyclones-tornadoes-lightning
 
More than 100 people in northern India have been killed by dozens of lightning strikes across two states in recent days, officials say.

The lightning casualties continue to pile up in Bihar and other Indian states. The toll is on pace to set new records for lightning deaths.
Deadly Lightning Strikes in India Kill 147 in 10 Days, And Are Predicted to Get Worse

Lightning strikes killed 147 people in the north Indian state of Bihar over the last 10 days, officials said Sunday, warning of more extreme weather conditions to come, driven by climate change.

Around 215 people - farmers, rural labourers and cattle graziers - have now died from strikes in the country's poorest state since late March, authorities said. ...

Lightning strikes during the annual monsoon that runs from June to September are fairly common in India.

But officials said this year's toll in Bihar has already surpassed the total number of deaths recorded annually for the state over the past few years, even though the monsoon season has just started. ...

In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, just over 200 people have been struck and killed by lightning since April, according to officials.

More than 2,300 people were killed by lightning in India in 2018 according to the National Crime Records Bureau, the most recent figures available. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/climat...strikes-in-india-killed-147-people-in-10-days
 
Just when you thought the weather can't get any more dangerous, it's zapping people like a Martian death ray. 215 people already dead? That's like an epidemic.
 
... 215 people already dead? That's like an epidemic.

That figure is just for a single state. I was surprised to see that more than 2,000 Indians die from lightning strikes each year.
 
Back in the mid-Nineties we had an office block in Boringtown centre. In the car park were three huge trees. From memory, they were eighty to a hundred feet tall.

One night there was a lightning storm, and the centre tree was struck and exploded...

I carefully preserved a piece which I still have, because of the old tradition that - as "lightning never strikes the same place twice" :rolleyes: - a house with a piece of lightning tree in it will never be struck by lightning

That sounds about as foolproof as Baldrick scratching his name on a bullet!
 
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