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Lightning kills!


BY ALLEN MACARTNEY


Each year lightning kills and injures outdoor adventurers – often unnecessarily. It happens out sailing, while canoeing, cycling and hiking, even while sipping hot chocolate around a campfire. Yet protection is remarkably easy. A risk exists, but the odds of being hit by lighting are almost one in a million, and few strikes are fatal. Lightning is all-natural – a powerful electrostatic discharge in the atmosphere. Most lightning bolts last less than half a second, are about 7,200 metres long and 15 centimetres in diameter. Lightning can even travel along the ground, following fences, power lines and big roots. Campers have been frightened of lightning for a long time. The earliest


recorded drawing of lightning was found on a rock in the Australia outback. The image (estimated to be 20,000 years old) shows a person whose hair is standing straight up. Horror stories of lightning devastation and folklore methods to escape


Did you know…? • Men have a higher lightning hit ratio than women because they spend more time outside.


• Rwanda is the country with the most lightning, while the north and south poles have the least.


• “Lightning Alley,” an east-west strip of land in Florida, generates more lightning than any other place in North America.


• About 1.2 billion lightning flashes occur annually worldwide.


Dispel these lightning myths • Lightning often strikes the same place twice. Most years it hits New York City’s Empire State Building about 25 times.


• No foam insulation pad under you offers enough protection from the thousands of volts in a lightning bolt.


• Caves offer no protection, despite popular belief to the contrary.


• Don’t believe anyone who says it’s safe to swim during a lightning storm. Get out of the water – it conducts high voltage over long distances.


its power have circulated for millennia. Roman emperors believed that a laurel bush could provide protection. That’s why the emperor Tiberius carried a laurel wreath with him at all times – high tech protection of the day. Caesar Augustus carried a sealskin tucked away in his tunic to ward of lightning bolts fired by the gods. While your chances of getting struck by lightning are about the same as winning the lottery, decreasing


the risk is possible. If violent weather is coming on, head back to the car or into a substantial building if you can. And when you’re inside, stay away from windows, pipes and electrical wiring. If you’re stuck outside, take these simple protective measures. Avoid single, solitary tall trees, and hilltops and take shelter instead under clumps of shrubs or trees with


uniform height. Squat or kneel in a crouch with as little ground contact as you can manage, or sit on any backpack with no


metal frame. Avoid wide open areas, and space out at least 10 metres apart in a group. Get off the water, and at least 20 metres away from it to take shelter. Ahead of time, don’t set up your tent under a large tree, near a cliff or cave, or on partially exposed roots.


And remember, it’s never over until it’s over. Stay alert for at least 30 minutes after the “last” peal of thunder or bolt of lightning – it might not be the last.


12 ottawaoutdoors


www.ottawaoutdoors.ca


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