Death by lightning are not a mere flash in the pan. In fact, India sees more deaths because of lightning than floods and heatwaves combined.
In the past two days alone, 77 people have died in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar because of lightning in a raging thunderstorm. Out of this, lightning claimed the lives of 28 people in Bihar, which, according to the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority, is the largest number of casualty due to lightning strikes in a single day.
Why Does Lightning Kill?
Lightning is a sudden high-voltage discharge of electricity that takes place between clouds, or the charge may travel all the way to the ground. As heavily charged air rushes to the ground from the clouds, anything that comes in its way gets zapped!
Though the chance of getting hit by lightning in India remains minuscule – almost 1 in 5,00,678 – at least 2,000 people have died because of lightning strikes in the country in the past couple of years.
A lightning bolt can carry as much as 300 KV of energy. The surrounding air can heat up to 50,000 degrees, which means that one can literally burst into flames or be left with deep entry and exit wounds if struck by lightning. In rare cases, the electric discharge from a lightning bolt can instantly stop the heart and cause cardiac arrest. Ruptured ear drums, however, appear to be among the most common after-effects of being struck by lightning.
Lightning strikes are common occurrences in the heavy monsoon season across India. The conditions responsible for lightning are created where warm, moist air rises and mixes with cold air above. More lightning happens near the equator than the poles. Studies have pointed that India’s eastern regions are most vulnerable to lightning.
Lightning strikes may kill more than any other natural calamity in India, but they haven’t been classified as a natural calamity. What this effectively means is that lightning victims or their kin are not compensated by National Calamity and Relief Funds. They cannot claim compensation from the state as they would have been able to for an earthquake, avalanche or flood.
Since lightning doesn’t attract much political attention, deaths fail to make headlines. But a significant number of recent deaths reported are farm labourers and people working in open fields.
Stay Safe in Lightning:
- Avoid using electronic equipments.
- Stay indoors.
- If no shelter is available, crouch low but don’t lie on the ground.
- Do not lean on concrete walls.
- Stay aware of the weather forecasts, preferably through a battery operated radio.
Beyond the lack of awareness and preparedness, deaths also happen occur because lightning strikes are unpredictable. To improve lightning-focused infrastructure, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) has set up a lightning location network in Maharashtra. These networks monitor cloud and wind movements and the intensity of lightning to predict the possible regions where they may strike.
Predicting lightning is very complicated. Everything happens in one second, from trigger to strike. Before that, it is hard to say where it will be triggered. A cloud can be huge, sometimes covering 25 km sq. Which part of the cloud the trigger for lightning will occur is hard to saySunil Pawar, Scientist, IITM
Now that you know how big a threat lightning is, be responsible if you plan to venture out on those ‘romantic monsoon drives’ or plan to play a game of soccer in the rain. Stay enlightened.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)