Politics & Government
Dearborn Mayor Urges Residents to Learn About Lightning Risks
National Lightning Safety Week will be observed in Dearborn on June 23-29.
This article was posted by Daniel Lai. It was written and reported on by the city of Dearborn.
Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. encourages residents to understand the risks of lightning strikes, and to draw attention to important safety measures. O'Reilly declared June 23-29 as Lightning Safety Week in Dearborn. He also is promoting awareness through Dearborn's television program, "This Week in Dearborn," during which he interviews Fire Capt. Brad Smith, the city’s emergency management coordinator.
The essential message to prevent injury or death from lightning is: “When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors.”
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Lightning can strike as much as 10 miles away from the rain area in a thunderstorm, which is about the distance that you are able to hear the thunder from the storm. So, if you can hear the thunder from a storm, you are close enough to be struck by lightning.
Because lightning usually claims only one or two victims at a time, and because lightning does not cause the mass destruction left in the wake of tornadoes or hurricanes, it generally receives much less attention than the more destructive weather-related killers.
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However, information from the National Weather Service (NWS) outlines the potential consequences of lightning, which is common during the summer, when volatile weather can light up the skies and people spend more time outdoors.
According to the NWS, during the past 30 years, lightning killed an average of 52 people per year in the United States. More than 80 percent of lighting victims are male.
Documented lightning injuries in the United States average about 300 per year. Undocumented injuries caused by lightning are likely much higher.
Between 1959 and 2012, more than 100 people were killed by lightning in Michigan.
Michigan averages about 300,000 lightning strikes each year. The majority of those lightning strikes occur in the southern half of lower Michigan.
During a thunderstorm, each flash of cloud-to-ground lightning is a potential killer. It's only a question of whether a person is in the path of the lightning discharge. Lightning deaths can be prevented only if people are aware of the dangers and seek shelter in a building or car.
Where organized sports activities are taking place, coaches, umpires, referees or camp counselors must protect the safety of the participants and viewers by stopping the activities sooner, so that the participants and spectators can get to a safe place before the lightning threat becomes significant.
The NWS gives examples of the dangers of being outdoors when lightning is present:
• In July 2011, a family was on a tubing outing on the Au Sable River. A thunderstorm rapidly developed, and they attempted to exit the river and find shelter. They were just out of the river when three individuals were struck by lightning. Two women were pronounced dead at the scene.
• In April 2011, nine people were injured when lightning struck a soccer field in Portage at Westfield Park. The injured were a mix of adults and students who ranged in age from 12 to 41.
To watch "This Week in Dearborn" and learn more about summer weather safety tips, tune into CDTV at the following times:
Thursday, June 27: 9 a.m., 1 p.m., 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Friday, June 28: 8 a.m., noon, 4 p.m., and 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30: 10 a.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
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