Lightning strikes people everywhere!

I have been noticing that lightning strikes seems to be increasing. I do remember the old saying, "better chance getting hit by lightning." Well it seems thoughs odds are good.

MOSCOW, Russia -- Lightning has killed and injured more than a dozen people in Russia in the past two weeks, officials say, blaming widespread use of electronic gadgets such as cell phones for an increase in deadly strikes.
cnn

10 Struck By Lightning
The man was struck at 1:17 p.m. between Paterson Street and Beach Avenue.

At the same time, a girl on the beach suffered injuries to her hands. Fire authorities said it appeared she was holding an umbrella at the time. She was taken to same hospital, but her condition is unknown. It was raining at the time she was struck. She and the lifeguard are the tenth people to be struck by lightning on Sunday.

The National Park Service said a man died and two others were injured after a lightning strike on the beach in Sandy Hook. Hours earlier, five people were struck by lightning in Long Island.

Five people in their 20s were hospitalized after they were struck by lightning in Long Island.
www.msnbc.msn.com...

July 21, 2008 12:53 PM
Five people remain in intensive care today after lightning struck a tree yesterday and injured 10 people at a Dorchester soccer game.
[boston]www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/07/at_least_1_rema.html - 36k [/url]

July 17, 2008
Firefighters were dispatched at 5:45 this evening to a residence at 1649 Second St. in Bethlehem Township where a fire broke out during the storm. Homeowner Irene Donchez heard a loud lightning crash immediately before a bed in her house caught fire. The Nancy Run Fire Co. said the cause was undetermined as of 6:30 p.m.

Two people were struck by lightning in Lehigh Township, township police said. Neither suffered major injuries, according to police.

blog.lehighvalleylive.com... bethlehem_twp.html

June 28, 2008
Eight people were rushed to the hospital Saturday night, after rangers said a lightning bolt hit near them in the mountains. The people were fighting wildfires at the time in Caldwell County.
www.wsoctv.com...

Jul 21, 2008
Seven people injured in a lightning strike in Dorchester remained hospitalized Monday night, four of them in intensive care. Ten people in total were injured while seeking shelter under a tree in Franklin Park on Sunday.
wbztv.com...

And thats just some of them, there are a whole lot more!

What could be to blame, global warming, electronic gadgets, over population?




[edit on 27-7-2008 by UnitedSatesofFreemasons]

I wonder if this is above average.

One thing for sure the weather is very strange here in on the prairies.

This is a very cold summer. Yet, we heat up enough during the day to produce some really big storms.

Also...two times this month...Stoney Rapids. up North..has been the hotspot in Saskatchewan.

That is very unusual...the CBC weatherman sort of freaks out over that one!

I'd say it's just more reports of people in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm quite certain we wouldn't have heard about someone in Russia getting struck by lightning 20 years ago but now we get news from all over the place.

Holding a cellphone/gadget won't make any difference. Contribution to ionization to form a conductive path in the air that can arc thousands of feet would be pratically zilch. Anything that would contribute enough electrostatic potential to matter would kill you outright anyway or at least create a strong enough field to have your hair stand up.

I've seen tree lightning strikes within 100 feet of me in my lifetime and only one hit a protruding object (a tree around 1982). The other two struck the lowest point around (the dirt, in ~2004 and the last in 2008).
The latest was the only one during a rather sever June thunderstorm that was producing barrage of ground strikes. Overall this year has been very calm locally.

Thankfully I was in the house for the first one and in a steel-bodied automobile for the last two. Frankly I wouldn't mind seeing more of them; it's rather an impressive sight so close up (and sound)-- hopefully in the car where it's safest.

Well, maybe there could be some sort of factor where the amount of atmospheric electrical activity (lightning) might always be occurring and would happen regardless of location on the earth.
We don't seem to be having as active of a hurricane season like in the recent past few years. Anyone understand what I'm getting at?

Two were struck and killed last week in Maine. A relative in New York was struck but not killed last week as well. There seems to have been an increase as far as I am concerned.

According to a study entitled "Demographics of U.S. Lightning Casualties and Damages from 1959 - 1994," by Ronald L. Holle and Raúl E. López of the National Severe Storms Laboratory and E. Brian Curran of the National Weather Service, males account for 84% of lightning fatalities and 82% of injuries.

The National Weather Service publication Storm Data recorded 3,239 deaths and 9,818 injuries from lightning strikes between 1959 and 1994. Only flash floods and river floods cause more weather-related deaths.

But according to Dr. Elisabeth Gourbière of the Electricité de France, Service des Etudes Médicales, only 20 percent of lightning victims are immediately struck dead.

Neurologic/psychiatric injuries
-Loss of consciousness/coma
-Amnesia/Anxiety/Confusion/Aphasia/Seizures
-Electroencephalographic abnormalities
-Brain/Cerebellum damages
-Numbness/Weakness in limbs/Partial or complete (but temporary) paralysis
-Neuropathy/Pain syndromes
-Spinal cord injury/Parkinsonism
-Sleep and memory disorders/Concentration
disturbances/Irritability/Depression/Various other disturbances such as headaches, tiring easily, lightning storm phobia, etc.
-Post traumatic Stress Disorder

link

In fact, the cost of homeowners claims for damage due to lightning strikes has increased dramatically—up 28 percent over the last four years, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

LINK

We have had some really big storms here.

We had a house in the North part of the city struck by lightening.

The insurance data you gave seems to show an increase.

I wonder if Mother Nature is going to threaten our insurance industries.
Floods
I know there are now many areas in the US that are deemed uninsurable.
www.timesonline.co.uk...

New homes on flood plains 'uninsurable'

Health Care
Anyone who discounts the seriousness of the health care situation in the United States has not tried to buy health insurance on the open market.

hurricane

Viridian Note 00464: Florida Is Becoming Uninsurable

etc etc

Originally posted by UnitedSatesofFreemasons

In fact, the cost of homeowners claims for damage due to lightning strikes has increased dramatically—up 28 percent over the last four years, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

LINK

It says the number of claims fell but the cost of each payed claim has more than doubled from the 2004 figure and increased each year with the biggest spike in 2007. The number of payed claims per year was relatively flat from 2004 through 2006 but had a dramatic drop in 2007.

Why fewer claims? This seems to suggest 1) fewer damaging lightning strikes 2) people don't file claims as often - fear of premium increase?

Why such a massive increase in cost per claim in three years? Only thing I can think of off the bat is fuel costs factoring into repair costs heavily.

I also posted something 1-2 months ago, about 3000 lightnings in one single night / one place . I have the feeling that the athmosphere for whatever reason is conducting the electricity better than it suposed to. I keep on wondering why..