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I'm Laughing At Clouds - Not

Tribune photo by FRED BELLET

Lightning strikes here more often than anywhere else in the country - unfortunately.

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By PHILIP MORGAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 10, 2008

If the makers of "Singin' in the Rain" were going for realism, a lightning bolt would kick up bricks behind the puddle-tapping Gene Kelly. A "duck and cover" move would become part of the classic routine.

I don't sing in the rain because I don't want to die.

It's summer, after all, and I live in West Central Florida, the lightning capital of the United States. That sounds like an exaggeration - you know, like "bass capital of the South" - but the National Weather Service backs it up. Lightning strikes here more often than anywhere else in the country. Lightning can strike every square mile in West Central Florida 40 times a year, according to a story earlier this week by Tribune reporter Neil Johnson.

So only a fool would sing, dance or splash about in the rain here. If I'm not forced by circumstances to be in it, I run like a mouse at the first thunderclap. It probably wouldn't do any good. The experts say you're in range of the strike if you hear the thunder.

The jolt is five to 10 times more powerful than a typical industrial electrical shock, according to a story from Science@Nasa Headline News at www.science.nasa.gov. (On Google, type the key phrase "when lightning strikes people.") The flesh burns at the entry and exit wounds, and if the charge doesn't stop your heart, you may live to suffer vision, hearing or even mental problems.

The odds are even worse for me, according to the NASA site. Men are struck by lightning four times as often as women.

Here are wise tips from the weather service:

•If the time between the lightning and thunder is 30 seconds or less, get to a safe location.

•The safest location is a house or other fully enclosed building with plumbing and wiring. Do not touch plumbing fixtures, electrical equipment or switches, metal windows or masonry walls.

•The second best location is an enclosed vehicle with a metal roof and metal sides. Convertibles and vehicles with plastic or fiberglass roofs or sides aren't safe; it's the metal, not the tires, that protects you from lightning. Keep the windows closed and avoid touching door handles or radio knobs.

•Avoid open fields and elevated places.

•Do not seek shelter under trees or other tall, isolated objects.

•Wait at least 30 minutes after hearing the last thunder before leaving the safe location.

No doubt Roy Sullivan stopped singing in the rain early on. The ranger in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park became a legend after being struck by lightning seven times over a span of 35 years.

In 1942, the first bolt smacked him in the leg and he lost the nail on his big toe. In 1969, a strike burned his eyebrows. In 1970, it got his left shoulder. In 1972, it set his hair on fire. In 1973, it set his hair on fire again. In 1974, it injured his ankle. In 1977, it burned his chest and stomach. In 1983, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

I think by the third strike, I would have stayed inside and just watched the weather on TV.

Reporter Philip Morgan can be reached at (813) 259-7609 or pmorgan@tampatrib.com.

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