[crash]

Originally Posted by Altavia

We've averaged 6-8 that I'm aware of a year the past 5 yrs.

I have a suspicion (and some evidence) metallic gas lines in the attic increase the risk of fire.

You are correct about the gas line in the attic leading to more fires. I was told there was a lawsuit in 2007 about this, don’t know how it turned out.

[Robojo]

Originally Posted by bobeaston

As for "why so many" see this article.

Seeing 4, 5, 6 homes in The Villages per year being struck, and some totally lost to fire, we bought a Lightning Protection System and whole house surge protection a few years ago. While typical homeowners insurance covers damage, it's the inconvenience of losing possessions and living elsewhere for the year or two it takes to rebuild the home that makes it easy to justify.

The Lightning Protection System, a network of 6 or 7 lightning rods on the typical home, will divert a direct strike from your roof to the ground. The surge protection is used to protect from the ground surge of electricity that happens when lightning hits the ground nearby, nextdoor, or a few houses away. I like the belt + suspenders approach of having both.

There are two fully certified firms that install lightning protection in The Villages. Both have good reputations (and long backlogs). Don't use just any electrician for this work, use properly certified people.

A1 lightning Protection
352-465-0620

Triangle Lightning Protection
352-483-7020

If you want a better sense of the activity, download the "My Lightning Tracker" app to your phone and watch it during any of our summer afternoon storms.

P.S. I am not financially involved with either of these firms, but am a pleased customer of A1.

This SHOULD be part if the regular build and Not need to be added later.

I blame the developers for being cheap.

[eeroger]

Originally Posted by motherflippinpicker

We moved to The Villages on June 11th. Since moving here there have been many direct lightning strikes to homes, several with severe damage. Never in my life have I lived in a place with so many strikes. Is there a way to prevent or reduce our home's chance of being struck?

We moved here from Southern Florida, where the storms are extremely intense and still this is very different.

BUYER BEWARE!

There are only TWO companies recommended for Lightning Protection system - A1 & TRIANGLE. There others are selling inferior systems that MAY NOT work & protect your house.

[TheWatcher]

Originally Posted by motherflippinpicker

We moved to The Villages on June 11th. Since moving here there have been many direct lightning strikes to homes, several with severe damage. Never in my life have I lived in a place with so many strikes. Is there a way to prevent or reduce our home's chance of being struck?
...

My Tempest weather station recorded this data from Fenney:

Lightning Strikes total (per calendar year)

2023 98120
2024 64799 (partial to date)

These are strikes noted within about a 25 mile radius.

Tempest

(click on the icon on the top right for details and on each item for graphs)

.

[JudyLife]

Get your house fitted with a Lightning Protection System ie ‘Lightning rods’ by a reputable local company. We had ‘Triangle’ fit ours 2 yrs ago, about $1200. Don’t listen to folks who tell you they will ‘attract’ the Lightning. Also go to one of the Lightning talks by a guy from the Science & Tech Club-I think there’s one in August at one of the Rec Centers.

[rsmurano]

Why would anybody run around the house to unplug things during an electrical storm? How are you going to unplug the refrigerator, stove, furnace, freezer, all the most expensive items in your house? Get a whole house surge suppressor and no need to do this. I get the surge suppressor from my local utility for $6 a month. I think this is superior to the electrician installed unit in the electrical panel for a number of reasons:
1) you don’t pay for an electrician to install it
2) you don’t pay the large sum of $500-$1000 for the unit itself
3) since it’s installed behind the panel, how are you able to look at the lights to see if it’s working or not?
The suppressor installed at the outside meter is maintained by the utility, catches the surge before it enters the house, and you can check the lights very easy.
For computers, have a UPS device that gracefully shuts down the computer based on battery life.

[TheWatcher]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

My guess: More active storm season this year combined with dense housing development. There is more lightning and it is going to hit somewhere. With houses blanketing a large portion of the area, the chances are high that it will hit a house.

Two years ago we had regular afternoon thunderstorms. Last year we had few. This year they seem to be more active.

July 2024 strikes so far: 32346

July 2023 strikes total: 28174

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[jasamy2]

Youcan unplug washers, dryers and small appliances

Originally Posted by Annie66

We do not have LPS but whenever the Lightning app on my iPhone tells me lightning is in the vicinity, we unplug all of our sensitive equipment (computers, printers, modems - both power & coaxial cable, etc.). Hopefully the expensive items in the house will not suffer damage due to an electrical surge from a near strike. Before folks chime in, we do not pull refrigerator plugs and other large appliances simply because of the effort to pull them out from the wall. We roll the dice on those items.

[jrref]

The Villages Lightning Study Group which Len Hathaway leads gives presentations all through the year at club meetings, special meetings organized by local residents interested in lightning and at the POA meetings. Here is the link to the POA meeting since it was recorded. It will explain all the information about lightning and surge protection and the problem with the flexible gas lines used many years ago and what to do about it.

https://youtu.be/IJMLyywdB0A?t=1831

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Robojo

This SHOULD be part if the regular build and Not need to be added later.

I blame the developers for being cheap.

A lot of people blame the developers for a lot of things - doesn't make any of it valid.

Whether you pay for the LPS as a standard feature, as an option added before purchase, or as an aftermarket add-on, you the homeowner will pay for it. If anyone is being cheap it is you.

I believe what is more accurate is you blame to the developer for not taking care of this for you which now requires some effort on your part.

The number of homes that have NOT been hit by lightning is FAR GREATER than the number of homes that have. In an area that adds 3,000 homes per year, six to eight lightning strikes is nothing. Your odds of being hit by lightning are greater than the odds of winning the lottery but that isn't saying much.

With all that said, I am seriously considering having an LPS installed when I have my roof replaced. I've paid far more in home, car, and health insurance than I will for an LPS system so if it is never used I'm not out that much money. On the other hand, if it protects my house just once then it will be money well spent.

[Switter]

Originally Posted by Annie66

We do not have LPS but whenever the Lightning app on my iPhone tells me lightning is in the vicinity, we unplug all of our sensitive equipment (computers, printers, modems - both power & coaxial cable, etc.). Hopefully the expensive items in the house will not suffer damage due to an electrical surge from a near strike. Before folks chime in, we do not pull refrigerator plugs and other large appliances simply because of the effort to pull them out from the wall. We roll the dice on those items.

This is exactly what I do. Since all of my electronics tend to be clustered together in an area, everything gets plugged into a power strip so all I have to do is unplug the power strip.I might even rig up a power strip behind my fridge that both the stove and fridge can plug into and that I can reach easily enough to unplug it.

[Angelhug52]

Just remember you can take all kinds of steps to decrease the potential of a hit.And if the house next door gets hit and burns yours may catch fire too. Of have melted siding. Houses so close together are vulnerable. Make sure you have insurance. An escape plan for you and your pets. Welcome to what some have named the Lightning capital of Florida.

[ThirdOfFive]

Post #9 hit (no pun intended) on it, I believe. The reason that there are so many lightning strikes reported here is that there are just so many more things for it to strike. A severe thunderstorm in, say, rural Kansas or the Minnesota prairie can produce a spectacular light show (I've seen many), but when houses are spaced a mile or more apart as compared to maybe 10 yards here in TV--well, TV is a target-rich environment compared to those examples.

[airstreamingypsy]

My first year here I lost a new TV, after a storm. Now I have a SECO surge protector on my house, and all my electronics are plugged into APC Upses....... so far so good. Of course lightning rods are a game changer, I don't have them here, but I had them on my barn on my horse farm in SC, they took a direct hit to the barn, and saved my 6 horses and two donkeys.

[CybrSage]

As a point of reference, the Navy would secure the base in Orlando almost every day around 4pm due to the lighting strikes. Only lasted about 5 mins.

For those who do not know, securing the base means everyone must rush inside the closest building and amf cars must stop and be put in park when the siren went off, and stay until the siren was sounded again.

I could taste the lightning when I was outside as the alarm sounded.

That base no longer exists, this was in the late 80s.