Sudden Death from Heaven
Hr. .Seeley gives some» inlorostinj* figures
reliilive lo «loaillis in Norlli C'nrolinsi esuiseil
by liylil iiiiiy. Also some good advico nlioul
uliaif lo do (luring* on eleclricul slorin.
«у/ нлыкк
j. si:i:ii:v
Professor of Electrical Engineering, Duke University
LIGHTNING occupies the unique
|H>Mlii»u in nature as a pbeiioni-
•i'Ihhi wliieli serves
П.
> direct useful
purpose, and Ims never l*een hnrnessed
for t lie benelit of llltlllkiiul. It bits been
-ugge-ted i lint ligbtning perhaps inn
у
serve to replenish nitrogen in tbe nir.
but tliis is merely a supposition. No
one, however. lias ever made any di¬
ps'! u«o of it to perform useful work
or bring about beneficial reaction)». It
i- tbe one phenomenon of nature that
produce* nothing but fear and destruc¬
tion «believer and wherever it strikes.
It come, suddenly and without warn¬
ing. and kills au average of 390 per-
soiiS per year in the I'nited Stales.
In the state of North Carolina tin
average of if
и
persons per year meet
death by lightning. Tbe worst year
was in ilU! I wln4i 3<i were killed, and
(he best year was 1932 when tbe iiuni-
ber was ti. Aside from these two years
the number vii ril'd from 16 to 23. This
state i. fifth in the number killed per
year. Georgia leading with 27.
Л
study of an isocerannic map of tbe
United Stale, shows that we arc due
to have lx' tween 40 and 50 thunder-
storms
|и'Г
year ill this state, the
average l-'ing about
4*»
or 47. That
means that for nearly every two
thunderstorms some person is killed
bv lightning.
How They are Distributed
It is interesting to note bow the
390 death, per year are distributed
anmni- tin- state*: Georgia lead- with
27. then mines Mississippi with 25.
Alabama 24. Texas 22. North faro-
linn 20. Pennsylvania 19, Idaho,
(.ouisiniia. Missouri, Ohio, and South
Pnrolinu each 15. Note that the
deaths do not all occur in the southern
slate., and that some of the northern
-lutes rale equally with southern
-lales. |-’or example, Florida ami
New Volk each have 12 per year.
Michigan and Oklahoma each have
9 per year. Minnesota and New Mexieo
have
I»
each. Massachusetts rates with
Ari/oiia with 5 eaeli, and so on. No
.late is entirely free of lightning
death*: Vermont and Washington each
averages I every C years; Oregon and
I»
Imde Island have 2 every
«1
years;
Nevada and Now Hampshire 3 every
(• years. Of the extremely northern
stales, Maine has 2 per year, Montana
and North Dakota 3 each, and Wis¬
consin ti. Of the southern slates no I
mentioned above, Kentucky has 12 per
year, Tennessee 14. and Virginia 13.
Span of Six Months
I •uriug the lightning season of
193S, 21 |»eople were killed by light¬
ning in North Carolina. 1 1 white and
7 colored. The first death occured in
Harnett County on March 16 and the
last in Cleveland County on Septem¬
ber I I. indicating a rather long danger
season of i! months duration. Four
children, ages 4, •>. 7, and 12 were
killed; the others ranges! from two
boy*, 14, to a man 72.
The most significant aspect of these
lightning statistics, furnished by the
State Detriment of Vital .Statistics,
is that, not counting the 4 children
mentioned above, 75 per cent of the
fatalities were fanners. It is of ex¬
treme importance, therefore, that
anyone engaged in fanning, or any
Other work in the open, should recog¬
nize the hazards of their profession
and seek shelter immediately upon the
approach of a storm. This goes for
golfers, bathers, fishermen, and all
other* in exposed places. Lightning
follows the shortest air path to
ground; and a man standing in an
«14*11
field offers it a shorter path by
five or six feet because his ImmIv is a
Ix'iter conductor of electricity than
the air. If it is ini|M>ssildc to get to
shelter l*cforo the storm breaks, the
next safest procedure i* to lie fiat oil
the ground. If driving mules, turn
ilii'iu loose and let them run; if driv¬
ing a tractor, get away from it, 50
feet or more, and lie down.
When seeking shelter Under tree*
«elect a small tree in a clump. A single
eXpo-ed tree, or the highest tree ill a
clump are dangerous places, Golfer*
would «lo well to throw their clubs
away if they have metal shafts, and
fishermen should discard metal poles.
Wire clothes-lines are particularly
had unless grounded at both ends.
Women should not go near them dur¬
ing a storm. In Forest City last
summer, lightning struck a tree 35
feet from a house, rail along a wire
clothe* line which connected the tree
with the house, and killed a hoy stand¬
ing on the back porch near the end of
the line. Women are known to have
received shocks while hanging or tak¬
ing in clothes from a wire line.
Dangerous Shelters
Last July, in Duplin County, 4
people were killed and III injured when
lightning struck an ahaiidoued house
being used for a church gathering.
Eyewitnesses said that the lightning
bolt apparently glanced from a tree
near the building and entered a win¬
dow. Here was a case of
|мч>|>1с
being
under shelter, but the shelter itself was
exposed and coti'titulcd a hazard.
One or two lightning rods would hav^j
prevented that tragedy. Milch of the
$N0,000 worth of fir.* damage
|н*г
year
in this state, caused by lightning,
could be prevented liv a simple system
of lightning rods.
The annual toll of lightning deaths
might he somewhat reduced by the ob¬
servance of a few simple rules, but it
i- difficult to educate people to follow
them. Humans seem to like to ex¬
hibit a certain amount of bravado
during a thunderstorm, and they take
pride in saying that they are not
afraid of lightning. It gives a feel¬
ing of superiority over the elements,
bill it leads to carelessness and un¬
necessary exposure, often resulting ill
-even- consequences. The person who
has a wholesome respect for lightning
and hurries to cover at the first ap¬
proach .of a storm is. without question,
exercising flu* valor of wisdom. The
farmer in the field, the golfer on the
(Cnnlinurd on pay hr>‘nh/-hro)
4
