[Lightning]

I am a volunteer member of the Study Group on Lightning that has no commerical affilation to any firm in the lightning/surge protection industry. The purpose of the group is to serve as a resource to Villagers seeking fact- based info on making an informed decsion on their lightning risk here in the "Lightning Capital of the USA". Our formation was motivated by many of the myths and misunderstanding about lightning. Our major resouce is the research conducted by the University of Florida and Dr. Martin Uman's book, [I]The Art and Science of Lightning Protection. We have given 41 Power Point presentations to Vilage clubs over the last two years. We also author a column, Lightning Matters in the monthly POA Bulletin.
There is no governmental oversite on the installation of a lighting protection system (rods) and therefore it is a buyer beware marketplace. We sugges using only installers "listed" by both Underwriters Laboratories and the Lightning Protection Institute. The cost will be more but you have greater assurnace that the installation conforms to the national standard on lightning, NFPA-780.