A lightning strike during last week’s storms at the top of Mount Geras, in León, has left more than twenty cattle burned.
When the storm started, the cows were grazing on the highest part of the Geras mountain, as they usually do. The area where the animals were grazing, owned by a farmer from Santa María de Ordás, is in the highest part of the mountain and is difficult to access. For this reason, it was not until the storm ceased that the farmer was able to reach the place, where he found the devastating event.
According to the locals this is a totally extraordinary event as usually no animal is struck by lightning in the area.
This reminds us of what happened in Norway in 2016, where 323 reindeer lost their lives due to a lightning strike.
In these cases, the death of the animals is possibly due to the so-called “ground current”, as we have already explained in the above-mentioned article.
It is because of this type of events that it is necessary to protect farms and pasture areas with lightning protection systems, since animals that are outdoors are very exposed to these misfortunes.
