A Reminder About Lightning Safety

I was sitting on my couch, minding my own business Tuesday evening at about 5:30 as a thunderstorm was rolling through the area. A lot of rain, lightning and thunder, a little wind...pretty typical July stuff for our area. The rain was easing slightly when the blinding flash outside the window and the instantaneous WHAM hit...followed immediately by my answering machine picking up a call that was not there and the shrill noise of my smoke alarms going off. A few, tense moments followed of making sure the smell in the house was nothing more than that "whiff of ozone" from the lightning, and not something smoldering outside or inside. And of course, within minutes I received a call from the very hushed voice of Christy Henderson in the studio..."are you getting any hail?" "Uh, no, not a problem with that right now..."
Overall, short of a satellite TV system that died at the moment of the strike...and an interesting gouge in the ground about fifteen feet from my back window that pointed at the metal pole holding some bird feeders, everything seemed to be in order. The gouge and the "dead dish" offer up some good reminders of what can happen to items exposed to lightning, and serve as a good opportunity for me to pass along some reminders of what to do and what not to do when storms arise.
All thunderstorms have lightning, and any one strike can have the potential to be deadly. Use the "30-30" rule when storms are around: if you hear thunder within 30 seconds of seeing lighting, get indoors (or into an enclosed vehicle) immediately, and stay there until 30 minutes after the last thunder is heard. If you are close enough to a storm to hear thunder, you are close enough to be hit by lightning...even if it seems as if most of the lightning is miles away.
Once inside, stay away from anything electricity might travel through if lighting were to strike nearby. This means any electrical appliances, computers, and video games, any land-line phones, and plumbing. Current can travel through the wiring (or water and pipes) right to the unsuspecting user on the other end. And with all storms, even though the temptation to stand at the window and look outside is great, you may want to back away from the windows, especially if strong winds or large hail are a threat.
Keep all of this in mind anytime we're in an unsettled weather pattern. As for me, I have to wait for a service call before I get my sports channels back...