Lately, nature has been surprising us more and more with events that escape from what we understand to be logical or normal.
And one of these manifestations that has grown in recent years is that of thunderstorms, with heavy rainfall in a short period of time and the presence of lightning.
In many cases, society does not know how to act in these situations. They do not know what to do to protect themselves from a thunderstorm with lightning. And that is what we are going to talk about today.
First, in order to put this situation in context, it is necessary to provide some facts about this situation.
According to the Global Weather Detection System, there are about 44,000 thunderstorms in the world every day.
In addition, according to the same source, more than 8 million lightning strikes are generated.
To give another example, a total of 41,000 lightning strikes occurred in Spain on 1 September 2021 on the peninsula, according to the EuropaPress media, and, according to the same portal, the total record in the history of Spain is more than 200,000 lightning strikes.
Now that we have seen the context in which we find ourselves, the situation is alarming to say the least. And we need to know how to act in such situations.
Because, in the event of a thunderstorm, would you know what to do?
In this post we are going to explain what to do whether you are at home or on the street.
If you are outside your home or a building and you are caught in a thunderstorm, these are the tips we give you:
- Whenever you can, even though it may sound logical, avoid being outdoors when there is a thunderstorm as much as possible. If you know that the weather may change and a thunderstorm may occur, stay indoors and avoid going outside.
- In most cases, lightning comes before the rain. That is why you should not wait for the rain to start before taking precautions.
- In case the storm starts and you are still outside, you should look for a shelter that is closed. A house or a car, among others, are perfect shelters to protect yourself. And close the windows.
- In case lightning strikes close to your position and you cannot easily reach a shelter, you should crouch down and get into a crouched position, squatting down and trying to keep your feet touching as little of the ground as possible to avoid attracting this energy.
- If you are not alone and are in company, you should stand a few centimetres away from each other.
- Avoid as much as possible staying in areas close to water or in contact with water (rivers, puddles, fountains, etc.).
- Avoid open spaces and areas of high ground.
- As with water, the same applies to metal. Avoid contact with metal objects (wire fences, electricity pylons, machines, pipes, etc.).
- Stay away from concrete walls or floors.
Avoid getting under a tall tree or under areas set up for barbecues or areas designed to protect from rain.
If you are at home, even if you think you are protected, you are not. Our advice on how to protect yourself from lightning at home is as follows:
- Avoid handling or coming into contact with water for the duration of the storm.
- Do not turn on any electronic devices, and try to stay as far away from them as possible for the duration of the storm (remove and unplug televisions, radios, computers, non-cordless phones or stereos).
- Avoid contact with concrete.
- If there is a mishap, call the emergency telephone immediately.
- Always wait until 30 minutes after the last thunder or lightning flash to go outside again.
These are basic tips in thunderstorm situations with lightning whether you are indoors or outdoors.
