When lightning struck 44 Army Rangers this week in Florida,
leaving 11 in the hospital, jaws must have dropped. What are the odds of that?
The answer: Very
low in most places, but not so, so low in Florida.
The rough chance
of being bolted by lightning in a
lifetime is about 1 in 12,000, but the odds discriminate by region.
Lightning is not
partial to touching down on the West Coast, but it loves the South,
particularly Florida, NASA says. Local researchers concur. "Florida ranks
No. 1 in the number of deaths due to lightning," says
the University of Florida.
Rangers' lightning exercise
But before we get to that, let's recap
what happened to the Rangers:
Ironically, they
were training near Eglin Air Force Base outside Pensacola on how to avoid being
injured by lightning, or "conducting lightning protection protocols,"
when they were electrified. The group had completed six of the 10 days in their
training program when it happened.
Originally 17
were hospitalized, and late Wednesday, 11 of them -- nine students and two
instructors -- were still in the hospital.
Up to 75 times higher
Obviously, where there are many more
storms, there will be much more lightning, but the difference in the number of
strikes is stark. In the hottest spots in South Florida, lightning strikes up
to 75 times more often than on the opposite corner of the country.
A quick glance at local Florida news reports turns up plenty of examples. This
month, lightning strikes were blamed for at least two house fires and a grass
fire, and killed one man in the south of the state -- all in a single day.
Last month,
lightning struck three people on a beach, was blamed in reports for at least
two house fires, injured a teen standing on a roof and knocked out the
scoreboard at a baseball field.
You don't find
that kind of action in Portland, Oregon.
Lightning season
Where the Rangers were training is not
in the worst strike zone in the state, but it's still dicey. Near there on the
Alabama coast, a 12-year-old girl was reportedly killed last month by
lightning.
Also, the time
of year matters. Florida is in the middle of lightning season, as the
University of Florida calls it. It lasts from late May through late September.
In the last 10
years, lightning has killed an average 32 people a year, the National Weather Service says. Florida has had the most
deaths by far in that time.
Lightning is a
major weather killer, ranking behind flood, tornadoes, extreme heat and
hurricanes.
Studies dating
further back showed a much higher death rate due to lightning strikes, about
100 per year, ranking them higher than all other weather dangers aside from
flood. But the NWS says that data is no longer up to date.
With global warming
on the rise, NASA warns that lightning strikes are climbing too, along with the increase in the number of strong storms.
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