We have had several incidents that resulted in serious injuries and even some fatalities here in Florida recently. And while I’m sorry for the victims, I can’t help but wonder what the heck they were thinking.
Yesterday a man was struck by lightning and killed while fishing from his pontoon boat. Two weeks ago three surfers were injured in New Smyrna Beach when they were struck by lightning while at the beach. Just the other day the news had another story of someone who was hit by lightning while working on the roof of a house. In each one of these cases, I wonder why the heck they didn’t just stay inside!
Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States. You have got a better chance of being struck by lightning here than any place else in the country. And you really increase those odds when you do dumb things like stand around in wet sand in the middle of a lightning storm, or crawl on a boat with massive metal pontoons holding it up in the water, or get up on a roof. The local weather people say that you don’t have to be in the middle of a storm to get hit by lightning. You can be as much as 15 miles away and still be a target.
And it’s not just here. On several occasions during our fulltime RV life we saw people washing the roofs of their RVs during storms. Now think about it, you’re standing on top of a metal box, making you the highest thing around, in the middle of a storm. What could possibly go wrong? Somebody told me once that he was safe because the RV had rubber tires, which insulates it. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I’m damn sure not going to crawl up on the roof of one during a thunderstorm to find out! When the weather is bad, I take my own advice and stay inside!
Speaking of weather, there are two things you can count on this time of year in Florida; it’s going to be hot and sticky, and you’re going to get a thunderstorm every afternoon. So, taking my own advice as I mentioned above, I have been spending a lot of time at the computer. I was hoping to get another 5,000 words in yesterday, but Steve the computer, being Steve, decided it would be a good day to mess with me. So he did, losing video and data several times, slowing down to the speed of sludge, along with all of the same nonsense he’s been doing for a while.
Finally, late in the afternoon, he seemed to tire of it and began working correctly again, and I managed to end the day with just under 3,000 words. As soon as Steve’s replacement is here, he’s in for a rude surprise. I can’t decide if I should shoot him, gut him out and throw what’s left in the trash, or put him up on the roof and wait for the next lightning storm.
If you like science fiction, historical fiction, and time travel, check out my buddy Stephen Arsenault’s brand-new book Quantum Civil War, the first book in his new Quantum saga. It will keep you reading late into the night!
Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an RV camping journal donated by Barbara House. Barbara makes several variations of these, and they all have pages where you can list the date, weather, where you traveled to and from that day, beginning and ending mileage, campground information including amenities at RV sites, a place for a campground rating, room to record activities, people met along the way, reminders of places to see and things to do the next time you’re in the area, and a page for notes for each day. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Thought For The Day – Life doesn’t just hand me lemons. Sometimes it puts lemons in a sock and beats me with them, prison style.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
When you think about it, the huge voltage potential difference, that has caused lightning to jump a span of several miles,isn’t going to be discouraged by the minutely small area of your rubber tires.
I’m curious what brand Steve is. Just to be sure I never purchase one.
A while back i read that Arizona has more lightning than Florida. 🙂
Just so you all know I have experienced the lightning while in our motorhome. We got struck and it was by far the loudest thing I ever heard. And yes I was wounded in Vietnam so I understand noise. But we didn’t get shocked at all and we turned out fine. Now the motorhome? Well lets just say there wasn’t a thing that it didn’t ruin that was 12 volt. The 110 side of things were just fine. Needless to say that thing went down the road on a trade!
Sure hope that new computer gets there before ole Steve craps out completely! I vote for pull out the HD and put the rest in the dumpster. Why put him on the roof and wait for lightning to get him?….would probably destroy the house too.
I’m terrified of lightening! Especially Florida lightening. I fell out of love with a convertible I had when we lived in Florida when I learned there’s no protection from lightening even when the top is up. I had never thought about it, of course, but once I read an article about all the convertibles in Florida and how the top being up only protects one from rain and sun. I didn’t want it anymore.
Now I have an old 2-story house in Arkansas with a big porch all the way across the back, and I’m even afraid to sit out there when it’s stormy.
One of the opening acts for a recent Willy Nelson concert was from Georgia. They said in GA…when the weather is hot and sticky…they call it…weather you can wear! Love it!
The safety provided by a RV or car, is not from the tires but rather from the enclosed metal “cage” itself. That’s called a Faraday cage, the electricity travels thru the outer skin of the cage, but doesn’t enter it.
That’s also why convertibles don’t offer any protection.
Nick,
I just saw a piece on the Weather Channel the other day and the rubber tire thing is a “myth”.
“Somebody told me once that he was safe because the RV had rubber tires, which insulates it.”
They indicated it was the “metal” car that absorbed/shunted the electrical charge to ground – not the rubber tires insulating the car from the electrical charge…
I’m just saying… I’m with you – stay inside…
Lightning is not to be messed with. Our house got hit a couple times when I was a kid (had lightning rods), and the transformer on a pole by the road. Blew that up!
That’s good to know about it not being the rubber tires! I always wondered how that worked if they were traveling in water, puddles, etc. YAAY for the, uh, faraday cage, I think you said. I really do learn something most days.