Safety Tip - Lightning

In the United States, lightening kills and average of 66 people per year and injures another 300, according to the National Weather Service. In an effort to decrease the numbers in these statistics, Safe Electricity offers the following tips to stay safe during storms:

• If you are close enough to the storm to hear thunder, you are most likely close enough to be struck by lightning. Seek shelter immediately.
• Do not seek shelter under trees, picnic or rain shelters, or in open frame vehicles.
• Do not plug or unplug anything electrical during the storm.
• Do not use corded telephones — phone use is the number one cause of indoor lightning injuries in the United States.
• Avoid contact with water, pipes, washers or dryers.
• If you cannot find shelter in a building or in a closed frame vehicle, keep your feet together and sit on the ground away from water, high ground, or open spaces.
• If a person is struck by lightning, call 911 and care for the victim immediately. You cannot be harmed by touching the victim after he or she has been struck.