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In the wake of the lightning-related death in Cary yesterday, I thought it would be a good reminder to state that NC ranks #3 in the country behind FL and TX in lightning-related deaths. It is also the #2 weather-related killer in the USA. With all the transplants out there, I thought this would be a good PSA. Be safe out there!
I grew up in Tampa, FL and saw a neighbor get struck by lightning when I was a child. A storm started rolling in while he was up on his roof. He gathered some tools, got down off the roof, then made one more trip to get the rest of the tools and while walking back to the ladder was struck, and killed.
Moral of the story? Don't wait until you can see the lightning. If you hear thunder, be safe. Your chances of getting struck might not be very high, but they also aren't so low that it's worth ignoring the risks.
Great point. I had a close call growing up 20 mins after a storm thinking everything was ok, and then a bolt came out of nowhere. Definitely scared me straight.
Lightning is very dangerous. At about 12 years old on a cloudy day at about dark but no sign of thunderstorms/lightning a bolt hit our chimney. My dad and a friend were outside loading our car for a trip to a Lions convention in New York the next day. I was in bathroom. The lightning went from chimney to fuse box in bathroom to exposed pipes at the head of a bath tub. I was standing about 3 feet away and witnessed this. Naked, I ran out, my mom threw me a sheet and I ran across the street to our neighbors house, who was a doctor and at home at the time. He hugged me and after looking me over comforted me and assured me I was OK. Volunteer fire department came and put out small fire in attic. As we heated with coal, the house was covered with a sheet of coal soot from several open fireplaces in the house. Mom and dad closed the house up, headed off to New York the next morning. House was cleaned when they returned. As planned, I stayed with a friend. I have respected lightning ever since.
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