Lightning Strikes

[redwitch]

For those who don't know, another_Linda's house was struck by lightning last Saturday. Fortunately, it only created a small fire and minor damage. It also taught me a couple of lessons that I thought I'd pass on.

1. If there's a lightning storm that is truly close to your home, walk the perimeter of your home afterwards. It is possible that the lightning struck the ground close to your home, so make sure there is nothing smoldering.

2. If you are a snowbird and have no one watching your house, be sure a neighbor walks the perimeter of your home as well as their own. It may be the only way both homes are protected from fire.

3. If you have someone watching your home, make sure that at least one neighbor has the your watcher's phone number so they can do a check of your home after a storm. They won't know the storm was directly over your home unless someone tells them. (Some of the home watch services won't do this without charging extra -- if they won't, get a new one!)

[ConeyIsBabe]

Oh, redwitch... this is interesting, and no one has made any comments. Thank goodness Linda's house is OK.

I'm really not very technical or knowledgeable about lightning, but having lived in s/Florida for over 40 years I've lived through many lightening storms and never even thought of the house being hit.
Isn't there anything to install on a house to prevent strikes??? Lightning Rod??? Anything?

[redwitch]

I have no idea what you do to really protect your home -- it's possible that something is built into the home to protect the homes because this hit her dirt, not the house. I know I've talked to people since this happened and they do say it is actually pretty common for the lightning to hit the dirt and cause the loss of some electrical equipment and, if no rain, fires such as she had. Guess disconnecting television, etc. is probably a good idea during storm season.

Fortunately, the only thing the lightning may have damaged in Linda's home was her router (these seem to be a bit more sensitive than other electrical items). Outside, it was just a small patch of mulch and bushes.

I just posted to give a head's up to check the yard after a lightning storm overhead because it could strike and you not know it.

[gfmucci]

There appears to be a number of things that we would need to do if we really wanted to protect our house and electrical equipment from lightning.

We know that whole house surge protectors are not the complete answer.* Even SECO provides individual surge protectors for specific electronic components when they install a "whole house" surge protector.* And you still need to make sure your phone and cable lines have surge protection.* And surge protectors are only good for one solid hit.* They too need to be replaced occasionally.

Lightning rods have been known to be effective to draw lightning into the ground instead of into the structure of your house in the case of a direct hit.* But as Redwitch said, if the hit is into the ground and spiders into your house laterally, things can still get fried.

It boils down to protecting your house in a cost-effective manner:* Choose the combination of measures that are likely to suppress the most likely causes of damage.* These are through electrical circuits, phone and cable, and from direct hits.* A combination of whole house suppression (less than $200) individual suppressors (another $100) and a lightning rod system (I have no idea of the cost) would be all the practical measures one could take.

[tucson]

Oh, redwitch... this is interesting, and no one has made any comments. Thank goodness Linda's house is OK.

I'm really not very technical or knowledgeable about lightning, but having lived in s/Florida for over 40 years I've lived through many lightening storms and never even thought of the house being hit.
Isn't there anything to install on a house to prevent strikes??? Lightning Rod??? Anything?
I would call the Fire Dept. and ask their profeesional advice re; lightning rods,etc,etc. They told me not to put the rods on the house,so ck. it out w/them first.

[gfmucci]

Here ya go.* Study these links and then advise if it might or might not be wise to consider a lightning rod system for your home, particularly if you live along one of our "higher altitude" ridge lines in a location that is called "the lightning bolt bullseye of the western hemisphere."

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-218342/thunderstorm

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/lightning_map.htm

http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf22.htm

Lightning strikes can't be prevented, but they can be redirected.

[golf4me]

We moved into our new home in Hadley on Thursday. The landscaper stopped by and said to change the pine straw out that was used in foundation planting because it is like tinder.

[gfmucci]

We moved into our new home in Hadley on Thursday. The landscaper stopped by and said to change the pine straw out that was used in foundation planting because it is like tinder.
What does he recommend? The only material that wouldn't act like tinder during droughts would be rock. Even the Cypress mulch or pine bark would act like tinder if it is baked and dryed out.

[another Linda]

I know our place has a whole house surge protector, but I don't think it has anything else that would redirect a lightening strike. It was weird -- and very very lucky -- that the strike hit the landscaping and not the house itself. BTW, it was mulch that burned along with a bush and melted 2 sprinkler heads and some little plastic fencing that kept the mulch in place (no loss there!)