When lightning strikes

07/14/2010

WHAT are the odds of a person being hit by lightening?

One in a thousand, said o Alice Kanasa, weather specialist 1 of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

A lightning bolt would usually hit metals, which are the best conductors of electricity.

If not, lightning would strike a tree being the tallest structure in an open field.

“There is one in a thousand chances that a person would be hit by lightning,” said Kanasa.

A person would get hit by lightning because human blood emits positve and negative energy which attracts electricity, she added.

In the case of the policemen in Sibonga town, Cebu, Kanasa said the lightning may have been attracted to their metal guns.

A lightning victim has to be taken to the nearest hospital for treatment of burns, expecially if he is hit by “splinters” of lightning that bounce after hitting a primary receiver. First aid is not enough, she said.

During a lightning storm, people should avoid being in wide, open spaces, she said.

In homes, lightning arrestors or metal rods are installed to direct the current to the ground out of harms way.

Kansa said the television should be turned off and the use of the remote control should be avoided because the lightening may hit the antenae and cause the television set to explode.

(Cebu Daily News)