Storms!!!
 

Has been pretty bad this summer. I, too, don't remember so much electrical activity except for the night the tornado struck.

Cell phones and computers are unplugged...and I totally understand your apprehension....you can't outrun lightning. Stay safe!

We've been here 5 years...guess I'd agree re: the intensity re: storms. BUT it is the rainy season here and with it comes the thunder/lightening etc. The whole country seems to be having crazy weather. The Midwest is getting mega-rain and flooding that I don't remember in my life-time of being so bad. I just read online that somewhere in VA there was a storm that caused a apartment complex fire (lightening). It happens everywhere! Only thing is...here we don't have basements that seem to offer us "protection". There's not a thing we can do about it!

The angels are moving furniture again!!!!!

When the thunder roars, go indoors!!!!

These storms can make a body nervous especially coming form the northeast. The other night, the lightning was so bad, it lit up my house, as it came through the solar tubes. :22yikes:

It was like the fourth of July!!!

It seems as though most of the recent lightning strikes on homes have been South of 466A. Is this because there are no trees there and it is just basically flat open land with only the houses sticking up?

Took me almost 6 years not to stop and hold on to something when I heard a rumble....;) Earthquakes get your attention and you never know if it will be small or something terrible. Fires....ah something I also don't miss!

The electrical activity has been pretty bad....and it comes for all directions. One day it moves in from the west, then another day it comes from the east. No matter what direction it comes from, it moves really s l o w l y.

You're right, the solar tubes light up! Kind of like strobe lights, Joe...;)

NO, Buggy. It was something that the developer caused.


EVERYBODY........I was just kidding!


I feel so bad for the folks who have been repeatedly hit. No wonder they are waiting for the other shoe to drop.


I still like the excitement and drama of a Florida Thunderstorm.

Apparently the lightning is striking ll over. Our damage was incurred when it hit our Old Huge palm tree that was right next to the house. it travelled through the ground to whatever it could find. The good thing is it hit the tree and not our house! Like I said tree is now coming down on Tues others are further from out house. So far we figure replacement on everything well over 2K We have a SyCom whole house surge protector which I think saved our appliances BUT that will not help something that comes in through your cable and or telephone line which ours did. We still will be contacting them as our neighbor did when she took a hit and they reimbursed her pretty well for her losses.

Unfortunately, this is Florida in the summer! Over the years I have had trees hit in my yard and even my car sitting in the driveway seconds after we had just exited it. Known folks to be hit by lightening as well. It can be very dangerous, stay inside and be safe!

Still dry here in California! Probably no rain expected until November.

Was there a lightning strike today - Sunday, the 22nd? If so, where?

OK, that's it no solar tubes in my house! I don't like the lightening and close all the blinds and drapes. I do not want to see lightening! I'll live with dark areas in the house. I'll just turn on a light.

Are trees lightning protection?
 

This wiki page states "Trees are natural lightning conductors and are known to provide protection against lightning damage to nearby buildings by diverting lightning strikes away from structures. Tall trees with high biomass for the root system provide good lightning protection. An example is the teak tree (Tectona grandis). When planted near a building, its height helps to capture the oncoming lightning leader, and the high biomass of the root system helps in dissipation of the lightning's charge.[14]"

Lightning strike - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I have not seen any other info online that states trees are lightning protection for a home. I wonder if its true.

Just don't ever take refuge under a tree during a lightning storm.

Well while the tree may have taken the hit instead of my house it hit the heart of the tree and proceeded through the ground finding what cable and or wires it could therefore took out items in the house.

Sorry about the storms. I guess when we get there the end of July I have something else to get use to. That might take a little time though. We watch AZ. lighting storms from our patio since we are on the border of Ca. and AZ. Not sure I am going to like being in the middle of the storm, but it's a bit late to change my mind.We are hot 110 today and hotter tomorrow. I think I better go look at a fun thread instead of the scary one here. Oh well I did learn from reading the thread and hopefully I will be more prepared. Stay safe.

Stay hydrated!

One adapts to the storms, but shouldn't minimize the potential for harm. Do the best to protect yourself and your home. At least with weather apps and a weather radio, we know what is approaching. With earthquakes, we never knew when or how severe.
In the over 30 years we lived in southern CA, I can count the number of times I heard thunder on one hand...;). Couple of years in northern CA near San Francisco...don't recall thunder and lightening there. Living with the storms here did take a bit of getting use to...;)

I am pretty sure we don't have any Teak trees here in The Villages. I have never heard of a Teak tree, but Teak furniture have to come from somewhere.


. I hate when someone is afraid and I don't blame you. That is a LOT of hits in one area, rdhdleo!

What do you do in your house during a storm? I know not to use water in the sink ,shower or use the landline. I usually turn off and unplug electric stuff. Besides holding a shivering dog I just sit and wait until it moves on...you? .

I do all the above plus Pray! Oh and pack a bag with important stuff and a change of clothes :)

I always do my best work in the dark, LOL but............................

having several solar tubes keeps me from turning on a light until it's dark, or if I wake up early in the AM, and the sun hasn't risen.

To each his/her own.

The first week I was in TV, a house burned down in Calumet due to a lightning storm, and it made this person very nervous. If one is new to Fl, there is a period where you go from "frightened out of your mind" to it's just a rainstorm. These two last storms have many people thinking of lightning rods, and surge protection. I know I am.

One must do what gives them peace of mind, in terms of proper protection from storms.

Don't forget, it's only a few homes out of over 56,000 plus homes. On the other hand, if it happened to you, the numbers don't matter, and that is your reality.

I would rest a lot easier if I knew I did, "what was necessary, to protect my home".

What I would be doing if there was not a storm.

You and my husband. He goes out onto the lanai or the front porch and watches it.

We had the most horrendous storms in Michigan, with the most spectacular lightning. I have yet to see one down here as bad as the ones up there. Or hear thunder as loud. You get used to them and just go on with what you're doing. We have the emergency lighting where we can get to it in the dark. I just don't go outside like my husband does.

We had lightning today in Polo Ridge

Three homes north of 466 have been struck and destroyed and 5 between 466 and 466A and now one south of 466A in the last 10 years. Today's Daily Sun reports minor damage due to lightning strikes in Rio Grande and in Panellas. Remember lightning is highly UNPREDICTABLE!

I will never get used to the enormous amount of cloud to ground lightning we get here especially after going through what we are now I have a whole new respect for how dangerous they are. We had intense beautiful, yes beautiful storms in Illinois but never anywhere near as much cloud to ground lightning.

I love it here but will never get used to it or be complacent about it.

WOW, very scary and very real! We are having the BEST SPRING in a long time in NY and yet we are driving to TV in a wk. Better prepare myself.

Storms
 

Have to say it is not as bad as it was when we lived in Haines City, south of here about 70 miles probably. Just summer in Florida as per usual.

When we were new our biggest problem was figuring out what counties that had warnings issued were close.


We are doing better, but can't always figure out which way the storm is coming FROM.