I recently purchased a home. How can I protect myself and my home from lightning?

Statistically, lightning kills more Americans than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined. With that fact in mind, it is crucial to know how to protect yourself from this dreadful disaster. Another statistic that might strengthen your desire to protect your home is the fact that lightning kills about 100 people every year and injures about 300. More than $1 billion is caused in insurance industry losses every year.

LPI has great recommendations for lightning safety:

Outdoors:

• Avoid areas that are higher than the surrounding landscape

• Stay away from bodies of water including pools and lakes when lightning strikes.

• Immediately look for the nearest shelter with a lightning protection system like the ones located in golf courses and public parks.

• If you feel some sort of tingling sensation, if your hair stands on end or if you smell sulfur, lightning might be about to strike. When you feel this, you should immediately crouch down and cover your ears. Don’t place the hands on the ground because the lightning might strike the floor immediately transferring the electric shock to your body.

• Try to stay away from metal objects like golf cards, fencing, machinery and bicycle

• do not use a tree for shelter

Indoor:

• Try to avoid any contact with piping like sinks, faucets and baths

• Stand clear from doors, electrical appliances and windows

• Do not try to unplug televisions, computers, or stereos or other electrical devices during a storm

• Do not use a phone – only in case of emergencies

The terrible things about lightning and every other natural disaster is that most of the time you either don’t know that it’s coming or you don’t how the severity of it. When preparing yourself for lightning, make sure that you do everything you possible can to avoid a misfortunate event.