Modern technology, especially streaming, presents us with the opportunity to follow a variety of news channels, with each one reporting on political developments in their own way.
However, when it comes to weather, there can be very little bias.
While channel hopping, I came across a report of a family from Illinois, who, while driving, had their car struck by lightning.
They described it as sounding like a gunshot before the cabin was filled with smoke.
Now this is something that most of us here in the Bay have not heard of, though there were a few loud cracks of thunder on Tuesday night.
Doctor Google believes that vehicles being struck by lightning is an extremely rare event.
It has to be if Fox News ran it as a main feature. Not because it was a slow news day in the states, what with all the news on trade tariffs, deportations to El Salvador, as well as the Russian and Israeli campaigns taking the second row.
When the SA Weather Service installed its Lightning Detection Network, the company had to double-check everything, as they could not believe the high incidence of lightning in SA.
This could explain our country being one of the top three with the highest lightning fatalities worldwide. All three are African countries and include Zambia and Uganda.
Granted, nothing like Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela that experiences lightning 140-160 nights a year with 28 strikes a minute, lasting up to 10 hours at a time.
Luckily, most of the lightning occurs over the lake and only three to four fatalities are reported per year.
Besides socioeconomic reasons, the incidence of lighting is very high in the former Transkei, KwaZulu-Natal, the highveld and most especially the border of Lesotho, resulting in numerous fatalities per year.
I know of one incident where 12 elders in a rondavel were killed when it was struck by lightning.
In another recent incident, seven died in KwaZulu-Natal and eight in Witbank, all due to a single strike.
Unfortunately, many cases go unreported.
Only two incidents were recorded in the Bay, both on the east side of the metro, one fatality at Aldo Scribante and two at St George’s Strand.
As far as motor vehicles are concerned, working closely with loss adjusters, I am aware of at least a half dozen large trucks that have been hit by lightning. This has cost the insurer a tidy some.
Though the driver is protected by the “Faraday Cage” effect, where lighting runs on the surface around the occupants to the ground, the electrical systems are almost always fried.
Remember that there is steel in tyres for the circuit to be completed and if you are outside and are in contact with the vehicle, you will also be fried, for the want of a better word.
Livestock costs also amount to massive claims each year, and recently 24 cattle were killed with one strike.
This is not only due to them being out in the open, or sheltering under trees, but also because of the distance between their legs contributing to a high potential difference.
That is why the old wives tale of standing on one leg with your hand on your heart during a thunderstorm holds some relevance in this regard.
Modern technology in the form of a Lightning Detection Network can assist the insurer to determine the exact spot where the lightning occurred, thereby determining the validity of the claim.
Loss adjusters also use this technology to validate anything that is supposedly hit by lightning, be it your television, gate motor, pool pump or even your vehicle.
What one should do when driving and you encounter a lightning storm?
First, pull off the road, because if your vehicle is hit by lightning, all electronics and controls of the vehicle will be lost, thus increasing the possibility of an accident.
Second, and most importantly, stay in the vehicle until the storm has passed.
This week in history:
1923: King William’s Town (Qonce) records small stock losses during a severe hailstorm.
Dam Levels
71.58% down from 72.17% the previous week. Impofu was slightly down at 54.78%
Weather Safety Tips:
If during a thunderstorm you are caught in a forest, seek shelter in a low-lying area under a thick growth of small trees or bushes.
Now on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: WEATHER GURU
Email: info@wgawx.co.za with feedback or requests
The Herald
What to do when bolt from the heavens rains down
Image: SUPPLIED
Modern technology, especially streaming, presents us with the opportunity to follow a variety of news channels, with each one reporting on political developments in their own way.
However, when it comes to weather, there can be very little bias.
While channel hopping, I came across a report of a family from Illinois, who, while driving, had their car struck by lightning.
They described it as sounding like a gunshot before the cabin was filled with smoke.
Now this is something that most of us here in the Bay have not heard of, though there were a few loud cracks of thunder on Tuesday night.
Doctor Google believes that vehicles being struck by lightning is an extremely rare event.
It has to be if Fox News ran it as a main feature. Not because it was a slow news day in the states, what with all the news on trade tariffs, deportations to El Salvador, as well as the Russian and Israeli campaigns taking the second row.
When the SA Weather Service installed its Lightning Detection Network, the company had to double-check everything, as they could not believe the high incidence of lightning in SA.
This could explain our country being one of the top three with the highest lightning fatalities worldwide. All three are African countries and include Zambia and Uganda.
Granted, nothing like Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela that experiences lightning 140-160 nights a year with 28 strikes a minute, lasting up to 10 hours at a time.
Luckily, most of the lightning occurs over the lake and only three to four fatalities are reported per year.
Besides socioeconomic reasons, the incidence of lighting is very high in the former Transkei, KwaZulu-Natal, the highveld and most especially the border of Lesotho, resulting in numerous fatalities per year.
I know of one incident where 12 elders in a rondavel were killed when it was struck by lightning.
In another recent incident, seven died in KwaZulu-Natal and eight in Witbank, all due to a single strike.
Unfortunately, many cases go unreported.
Only two incidents were recorded in the Bay, both on the east side of the metro, one fatality at Aldo Scribante and two at St George’s Strand.
As far as motor vehicles are concerned, working closely with loss adjusters, I am aware of at least a half dozen large trucks that have been hit by lightning. This has cost the insurer a tidy some.
Though the driver is protected by the “Faraday Cage” effect, where lighting runs on the surface around the occupants to the ground, the electrical systems are almost always fried.
Remember that there is steel in tyres for the circuit to be completed and if you are outside and are in contact with the vehicle, you will also be fried, for the want of a better word.
Livestock costs also amount to massive claims each year, and recently 24 cattle were killed with one strike.
This is not only due to them being out in the open, or sheltering under trees, but also because of the distance between their legs contributing to a high potential difference.
That is why the old wives tale of standing on one leg with your hand on your heart during a thunderstorm holds some relevance in this regard.
Modern technology in the form of a Lightning Detection Network can assist the insurer to determine the exact spot where the lightning occurred, thereby determining the validity of the claim.
Loss adjusters also use this technology to validate anything that is supposedly hit by lightning, be it your television, gate motor, pool pump or even your vehicle.
What one should do when driving and you encounter a lightning storm?
First, pull off the road, because if your vehicle is hit by lightning, all electronics and controls of the vehicle will be lost, thus increasing the possibility of an accident.
Second, and most importantly, stay in the vehicle until the storm has passed.
This week in history:
1923: King William’s Town (Qonce) records small stock losses during a severe hailstorm.
Dam Levels
71.58% down from 72.17% the previous week. Impofu was slightly down at 54.78%
Weather Safety Tips:
If during a thunderstorm you are caught in a forest, seek shelter in a low-lying area under a thick growth of small trees or bushes.
Now on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: WEATHER GURU
Email: info@wgawx.co.za with feedback or requests
The Herald
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