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Deaths and injuries caused by lightning in the United Kingdom: Analyses of two databases
Abstract
Two databases of incidents in which lightning struck people, either directly or indirectly, are examined. Analyses of TORRO's UK database of lightning injuries and deaths for the period from 1993 to 1999 reveal that, on average, 49 people are struck by lightning each year. Approximately one half of the lightning incidents affecting people happened inside a building, with one quarter of indoor incidents involving the telephone. The majority of all people struck by lightning experience only minor injuries. A minority suffer severe effects (e.g. full thickness burns and/or require resuscitation) and, on average, three people are killed each year. With a UK population of around 58.2 million the risk of being struck by lightning (indoors and outdoors combined) is one person in 1.2 million and the risk of being struck and killed by lightning is one person in 19 million. Expressed in a different way, the average annual number of people struck by lightning per million people is 0.84 and the average annual number of deaths caused by lightning per million people is 0.05. Based on records of the total number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, an incident in which one or more persons are struck by lightning occurs, on average, approximately every 12,000 strikes. A lightning incident in which someone is killed happens, on average, approximately every 100,000 strikes. All the fatalities during 1993 to 1999 occurred outdoors.Analyses of the number of lightning fatalities in England and Wales (in which 88% of the UK population live currently), as recorded on death certificates since 1852, reveal that lightning fatalities have fallen dramatically during the past century and a half. The annual average number of fatalities each half century has decreased from 19 for the period 1852 to 1899, through 12 for the period from 1900 to 1949, to five for the period 1950 to 1999. Males accounted for four out of every five deaths.
... A detailed analysis of recent lightning-related casualties on a national level has been undertaken and subsequently documented in various publications for several countries. These countries include Switzerland (Badoux et al. 2016), Mongolia (Doljinsuren and Gomes 2015), Greece (Peppas et al. 2012), Nepal , United Kingdom (Elsom 2001), Romania (Antonescu 2018), and Bangladesh (Dewan et al. 2017). ...
... According to our Bndings, there were 1577 and 286 identiBed cases of casualties and injuries, respectively, in rural and urban agglomerations. The majority of lightning-related fatalities (99.5%) and injuries (97.5%) are reported from rural areas, which is consistent with similar studies conducted in other places such as Romania (78.5%) between 1999 and 2015 (Antonescu 2018), Turkey (86%) between 1930 and 2014 (Tilev-Tanriover et al. (Elsom 2001;Antonescu 2018). Seventy-three percent of casualties in the United Kingdom were male (Elsom 2001) and (Raga et al. 2014) found that 79% of lightning-related deaths in Mexico occurred in men. ...
... The majority of lightning-related fatalities (99.5%) and injuries (97.5%) are reported from rural areas, which is consistent with similar studies conducted in other places such as Romania (78.5%) between 1999 and 2015 (Antonescu 2018), Turkey (86%) between 1930 and 2014 (Tilev-Tanriover et al. (Elsom 2001;Antonescu 2018). Seventy-three percent of casualties in the United Kingdom were male (Elsom 2001) and (Raga et al. 2014) found that 79% of lightning-related deaths in Mexico occurred in men. Between 1979and 2011, Tilev-Tanriover et al. (2015 studies reported a slightly lower proportion of male casualties (67%) in Turkey. ...
In terms of natural disasters, lightning is India's most devastating threat, causing over 2500 casualties per year, according to the latest annual report of the National Crime Record Bureau. When compared to numbers reported from other parts of the world, this one is significantly higher. Bihar ranks as one of the most vulnerable Indian states in terms of lightning-related casualties and injuries. Lightning-related casualties and injuries in lightning hotspots in Bihar, India, are analysed and presented for the Brst time using the casualty and injury data received from the Beld oDces of the Disaster Management Department, Government of Bihar. Also, the spatial and temporal patterns and causes of lightning deaths in the state of Bihar have been linked to the intra-annual cloud-to-ground lightning strike frequency distribution. During 2017-2022, on average, there were 271 human casualties and 57.2 lightning injuries every year because of lightning in the small state of Bihar. The casualty rate per million per year was 2.65 during the period under study, which is higher than India's average (2.55). Lightning-related damages peaked from May to September, with June and July having the most (58.8% of total casualties and 59.43% of total injuries). Most of these casualties and injuries (about 76.8%) caused by lightning occurred from 1230 to 1830 IST. Several hotspots, mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the state, have been identiBed. Most of the casualties occurred in rural settings. Men between the age groups of 11-15 and 41-45 living in rural areas were particularly vulnerable. The authors contend that lightning mitigation actions and education campaigns regarding the risks associated with lightning should be undertaken with urgent priority to reduce the lightning casualty rate in the state of Bihar, India.
... Many papers have also dealt with fatalities related to heat waves (e.g., [15][16][17][18]), cold waves (e.g., [19]) or both (e.g., [20,21]). Fatalities during convective storms were analyzed with respect to lightning strikes (e.g., [22][23][24][25]) or tornadoes (e.g., [26]). Even daily mortality in connection with drought has also been analyzed [27]. ...
... [50]) or memorials devoted to the deaths of individual people by lightning strike, flood, freezing to death, aircraft crashes, and other causes. For example, an inscription on the memorial at Třemošná-Záluží (west Bohemia) explains death during a thunderstorm [51]: "Let this stone remember them who will come after us that on 22 Honor to their memory!" A short description of a particular memorial can be expanded by more detailed chronicles or newspaper reports, as is the case for many such memorials in the region of the Jizerské hory Mts. in North Bohemia [52]. ...
... No doubt, the clear decreasing tendency in these fatalities is also due to the increased use of lightning conductors, vast improvements in medical services, an increase in the availability of immediate emergency help with rapid transport to hospitals, and a broader public awareness of how to behave during a thunderstorm [23,34]. Similarly, well-expressed decreasing lightning-related fatalities were documented, for example, also for the UK [22], Switzerland [83], Western Europe [85], or Romania [25]. ...
The paper investigates weather-related fatalities over the territory of the Czech Republic in the 100-year period from 1921 to 2020. The unique database, created from documentary evidence (par-ticularly newspapers), includes, for each deadly event, information about the weather event, the fatality itself, and related circumstances. A total of 2729 fatalities were detected during the 100-year period and were associated with various weather categories including frost (38%), convective storms (19%), floods (17%), fog (11%), snow and glaze ice (8%), windstorms (5%), and other inclement weather (2%). A detailed analysis was performed for each individual category. Fatalities occurred throughout the country, with a main maximum in winter (January) and a secondary maximum in summer (July), corresponding to the occurrence of extreme weather. Deaths were mainly interpreted as direct, caused by freezing to death/hypothermia or drowning, and occurred in the afternoon and at night in open countryside or on rivers and water bodies. Males outnumbered females, and adults outnumbered children and the elderly. Hazardous behavior was more frequent than non-hazardous behavior among victims. The information on fatalities and the structure of their characteristics strongly reflects historical milestones of the country, political and socioeconomic changes, as well as changes in lifestyle. Although important weather effects were observed on the deadliest events, the character of the data did not allow for clear evidence of the effects of long-term climate variability.
... Currently, there is a tendency of steady increase in lightning victims in developing countries, while in developed countries this is a much less probable event (Cooper and Holle 2019). Between 1993 and 1999, for example, lightning strikes killed an average of three people a year in the United Kingdom (Elsom 2001). The last lightning fatality in Estonia (by 2020) was in 1998 in an oil shale quarry in North-Eastern Estonia (Sikk 1998). ...
... In general, previous studies have shown the number of lightning victims has decreased significantly in time (Lopez and Holle 1997;Elsom 2001). Indeed, a certain downward trend can also be observed in our results, albeit not as drastic as in the United States or the United Kingdom during the same period. ...
... However, the predominance of males is rather small, and in the first decade of the twentieth century, there were years in Estonia when the number of female victims exceeded that of males. The proportion of males in the studies elsewhere in the world is often in the order of 75-90% (Elsom 2001;Holle 2016;Cooper and Holle 2019). Sex proportions similar to our results are only found in analyses looking at the lightning victims among contemporary Indian and Bangladeshi agricultural workers (Dewan et al. 2017;Holle 2016;Cooper and Holle 2019). ...
The purpose of this study is to find out how many people died of lightning strikes in Estonia from 1880 to 1940. Data about lighting victims were mostly searched for in digitalised old newspapers. The journalistic reports were verified with the help of death records available in church registers. In addition, the data were verified using official statistics of the period. A total of 497 potential victims were reported from various sources. Of these, 349 deaths were considered reliable. This means that during the observed 61 years, an average of 5.2 people per year died in the Estonian region. As the number of fatalities may be underestimated, the actual number of victims could have been 7–8 per million inhabitants. The annual average number of fatalities remained practically unchanged during the period, but the share of women and deaths in buildings decreased to some degree. The sex and age structure of the victims corresponds well with the respective divisions of an agrarian society. The correlation analysis showed that the relationship between the number of lightning victims and the number of people living in the parish is high, as is the relationship with the area of the parish. However, the correlation with population density and land use is virtually non-existent.
... The incidence of lightning strikes to people in recent decades has been documented and analysed since TORRO initiated a new detailed National Lightning Incidents Database in 1994 (Elsom, 1994). Preliminary findings were discussed by Elsom (1996) and Elsom (2001). Elsom and Webb (2014) extended the database ret- rospectively to 1988 to provide a 25-year database for the United Kingdom and Ireland for analysis. ...
... The fre- quency with which a person was struck was once every 13,000 cloud-to-ground strikes, and a fatality resulted once every 107,000 strikes. These figures update the analysis undertaken by Elsom (2001) who used a shorter time period (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)), but the results are similar. A difference in the lightning risk may be evident between the earlier and later years listed in Table 10.4. ...
... The average number of deaths due to lightning in the United Kingdom and Ireland has decreased markedly in the past cen- tury and a half (Lawson, 1889;Golde and Lee, 1976;Baker, 1984;Elsom, 1993Elsom, , 2001Elsom and Webb, 2014). Detailed information on lightning fatalities is available for England and Wales since 1852. ...
Lightning is a significant weather hazard in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The research undertaken by the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) and the Thunderstorm Census Organisation (TCO, which was incorporated into TORRO in 1982) on lightning impacts on people, buildings, property, animals, trees, motor vehicles and aircraft is highlighted. Particular attention is given to the incidence and nature of injuries to people. Nearly half of those people experiencing an electrical shock due to lightning were indoors, and one-quarter were using a telephone at the time. However, indoor injuries were usually minor, while outdoor injuries were often serious. All of the deaths from lightning in the past 25 years have occurred outdoors. The annual number of lightning deaths is shown to have decreased markedly over the past century and a half, and the reasons for this are explored. Details of selected incidents of lightning impacts are provided. The continued need for individuals, groups and organisations to be aware of the risks posed by lightning is highlighted.
... Based on the reports, fatality rates in most developed countries over the past 30 years have been decreased considerably [8,11,12]. Based on Elsom (2001) there have been fewer lightning causalities in England and Wales over the past decades [13]. He suggested it was likely due to the fewer people working outdoors in open fields, improved weather forecasts that have enabled people to plan activities that avoid being outside during a thunderstorm, the expansion of urban areas, and improved responses by medical staff. ...
... Based on the reports, fatality rates in most developed countries over the past 30 years have been decreased considerably [8,11,12]. Based on Elsom (2001) there have been fewer lightning causalities in England and Wales over the past decades [13]. He suggested it was likely due to the fewer people working outdoors in open fields, improved weather forecasts that have enabled people to plan activities that avoid being outside during a thunderstorm, the expansion of urban areas, and improved responses by medical staff. ...
... In this case, less direct but still relevant are the injuries associated with fires started by lightning. Moreover, individuals may be injured by falling roofing or stone, hit by flying bark after a tree is struck, suffer burns in a fire caused by lightning, suffer an accident when the driver of a vehicle is shocked by a lightning strike near the vehicle, hurt by an animal shocked by lightning, or being shocked after observing the damages to their home due to the lightning [8,13]. ...
This study examined the risk of lightning-related deaths and injuries in Malaysia between January of 2008 to July 2015. The majority of lightning-related injuries and fatalities occurred during the months of April and May. Most lightning related casualties reported in the statistics since 2008 occurred in the states of Melaka and Selangor in the western coastal belt. The majority of victims, were engaged in outdoor and sports activities when injured or killed by lightning incidents.
... Many on the other hand relied on the database available by the Ministry of Health (Cardoso et al. 2014;Chao et al. 1981) and Ministry of Home Affairs by accessing the information technology division (Selvi and Rajapandian 2016), weather databases and meteorological services (Tilev-Tanriover et al. 2015;Singh and Singh 2015;Chao et al. 1981). Information has also been accessed from organization such as Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) by UK (Elsom 2001) and Storm Data by the USA . ...
... and traditional activities compared to females. The results are similar to the findings of other regions where males accounted for larger amount of casualties than female, e.g., in India(Singh and Singh 2015), Colombia (Navarrete-Aldana et al. 2014), Canada, Swaziland(Dlamini 2009), UK(Elsom 2001), USA, etc. ...
The studies identified the strategies that include short-term dietary changes; reducing or rationing consumption; altering household composition; altering intrahousehold distribution of food; depletion of stores; increased use of credit for consumption purposes; increased reliance on wild food; short-term labour migration; short-term alterations in crop and livestock production patterns; pledging, mortgaging and sales of assets; and distress migration. Davies (IDS Bull 24:60–72, 1993) makes the distinction between coping strategies (fallback mechanisms to deal with a short-term insufficiency of food) and adaptive strategies. The communities were selected for the following reasons: firstly, they fall within the coastal saline area of Bangladesh where there are frequent shortages of food due to uncertainty of rainfall and lack of fresh irrigation water. Secondly, the area provides an opportunity to study impacts associated with climate change and vulnerability on crop and livestock. This analysis revealed that the households not having connection with several NGOs or GOs were 0.028 times significantly less likely to be food secure than the households having that contact. The analysis depicted that the households not having the access to marketing information were 0.214 times significantly less like to be food secure as compared to the households having the same access to the information related to market price of input, output, materials needed for shrimp culture. Provision of training, in this study, was significantly associated with the food security status. Regression analysis had shown that households who had not received training related to shrimp culture management were 0.370 times significantly less likely to be food secure than the households who had received that training.
... Nevertheless, newspapers were the main data source, and data were obtained by scanning each issue during the period. Underreporting, especially of injuries, is a well-identified problem in lightning casualty data collection [Cherington et al., 1999;Elsom, 2001;Holle et al., 2005;Dlamini, 2009;Trengove and Jandrell, 2015]. The result is that lightning may not be perceived as large a risk as is the actual situation such that steps are not made to address the issue. ...
... Children in Bangladesh are defined as 18 years old or younger. A higher ratio of male population deaths from lightning has consistently been found such as 73% in the United Kingdom [Elsom, 2001], 79% in Mexico [Raga et al., 2014], and 79% from 2006-2015 in the United States [Jensenius, 2016], among many other studies globally. Gender of lightning-related fatalities in Bangladesh [Dewan et al., 2017]. ...
National summaries of lightning-related deaths and injuries are very difficult to obtain in many developing countries. For Bangladesh, Dewan et al. [2017] identified 3,086 fatalities and 2,382 injuries from 1990 to mid-2016, for annual averages of 114 fatalities and 89 injuries over the entire period. This paper updates Dewan et al. (2017) with another 18 months of recent data through 2017. The latest eight years have a fatality rate of 2.08 per million people per year and injury rate of 1.7. The rural attribution is 93%, the majority of deaths occur to males, and farming is the major activity. An increase since the late 2000s in part results from greatly improved communications leading to better media reporting of casualties because of a major increase in cellular telephone usage. The totals from 2010 to 2017 of 260 fatalities and 211 injuries per year may be considered as the current estimate.
... Globally, lightning leads to thousands of human casualties (including fatalities and injuries) every year. Therefore, many studies pertaining to lightning fatalities (deaths) and injuries have been undertaken in different countries such as Australia (Coates et al., 1993), United States (Curran et al., 2000), United Kingdom (Elsom, 2001), Canada (Mills et al., 2008), Swaziland (Dlamini, 2009), China (Zhang et al., 2011), Brazil (Cardoso et al., 2014), Colombia (Aldana et al., 2015) and India (Singh and Singh, 2015). All these studies have dealt with the phenomenon at macro scale while importance of lightning casualties in micro regions has remained poorly understood. ...
... Analysis by gender reveals that males account far more fatalities (91 per cent), injuries (86 per cent) and casualties (89 per cent) than female fatalities (5 per cent), injuries (10 per cent) and casualties (7 per cent) by lightning events. Remarkably, males are killed about 13 times more than females due to higher work participation by males in outdoor and labour-intensive activities such as agriculture, herding cattle, ploughing and construction work etc. Besides, where women undertake most of the agricultural work and other outdoor activities, it is possible that they may be the lightning victims rather than men (Elsom, 2001). Apart from this, about 4 per cent casualties have been witnessed among children. ...
This study investigates human casualties as a result of lightning strikes in Maharashtra state of India. Records
dating from 1979 to 2011 have reported about 2363 casualties resulting from 455 lightning events. On an
average 72 casualties per year have been reported with significant increasing trend. About 51 per cent events
and 46 per cent casualties have occurred only in six districts of Nagpur, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Nashik,
Amravati and Akola. Remarkably, Vidarbha region has reported about 4 times more lightning events and
about 3 times more casualties than second highest Marathwada region. The lightning events and casualties
rate per million population per year in the state has been found to be 0.15 and 0.82, respectively. Male
casualties are more prominent than females and children, which is probably due to the larger proportion
of males performing their work outdoors. The peak lightning events and casualties have been witnessed
during the monsoon season, whereas lowest during winters. It is believed that the results of this study will
be helpful in developing better disaster management guidelines for lightning safety and preparedness. Apt
audio-video presentations would help in better education of vulnerable segments of our society, farmers and
daily wage earners present in the rural environment.
... Because the likelihood of a report being disseminated about a single lightning event is small, especially an injury, the risk associated with lightning is not perceived to be as large a natural disaster as is the actual case (Duclos and Sanderson 1990). The result is underreporting, especially of injuries (Cherington et al. 1999;Elsom 2001;Holle et al. 2005). ...
... The male population has consistently been found elsewhere to have more deaths from lightning. Elsom (2001) reported 73% male deaths in the United Kingdom, Raga et al. (2014) found 79% in Mexico, Holle et al. (2005) found 80% in the 1990s and Jensenius (2016) found 79% from 2006 to 2015 in the United States, and Mills et al. (2008) found 84% in Canada. The reason for more male deaths has been attributed to higher risk taking by young males (Badoux et al. 2016) and specifically in rural Bangladesh to outdoor work commitments of males (Dlamini 2009;Raga et al. 2014;Singh and Singh 2015). ...
A database of lightning-related deaths and injuries in Bangladesh was developed from 1990 to mid-2016 from a variety of sources that contains a total of 5,468 casualties, comprised of 3,086 fatalities and 2,382 injuries. Spatial, temporal, and demographic aspects of these lightning casualties are evaluated in order to aid relevant entities in effective management of lightning-related meteorological hazards. The annual averages for Bangladesh are 114 fatalities and 89 injuries over the entire period. Weighting by population reveals a fatality rate of 0.92 per million people per year and an injury rate of 0.71. In contrast, the latest six years have a fatality rate of 1.6 and injury rate of 1.4. The rural portion of lightning fatalities is 93%. Most fatalities occurred between early morning (0600 LST) and early evening (2000). Through the year, more fatalities occur during the pre-monsoon season of March through May than during the monsoon season (June – September). The inter-annual time series of fatalities indicates an increase since the late 2000s which is a result of greatly improved communications leading to better media reporting of lightning casualties. Bangladesh has also become much more populous in recent years. As a result, the most recent six years have 251 fatalities per year that may be considered as the current estimate. The majority of lightning-related deaths occurred to males. Farming is the major activity at the time of lightning fatalities, followed by being inside a dwelling, and returning home or walking around homesteads/courtyards.
... Firstly, due to the limited information about cold waves in the newspaper, we could not collect all the desirable attributes for the analysis; for example, gender-based data were collected only from 2011 to 2019, and district-wise data were collected from 2005 to 2019. Secondly, not all the mortality cases were reported by newspapers (Dewan et al., 2017;Elsom, 2001;Holle et al., 2005), especially the deaths that occurred in remote rural areas in Bangladesh. Therefore, the original number of deaths due to cold waves may supersede the number found in the study. ...
The study aimed to explore the spatiotemporal patterns and characteristics of cold wave mortality in Bangladesh by developing a cold wave dataset using content analysis. Due to the absence of a formal database about cold wave-related mortality in Bangladesh, we first developed a cold wave mortality dataset using content analysis of four (04) leading national daily newspapers' cold wave-related news from 2000 to 2019 and crosschecked with other related reports. Then, we analyzed the data to obtain the spatiotemporal trends and characteristics of cold wave mortality in Bangladesh. A total of 5610 people died in 81 cold wave events (spells) in Bangladesh during the 20 years, with an average of 281 deaths per year. The average duration of cold waves (spells) in Bangladesh was 25.4 days per year, with a statistically significant increasing trend over the period. The highest cold wave mortality rate was found in the Kurigram District; the rate was 163.63 deaths per million people per year. About 58% of cold wave spells and 58.5 % of cold wave mortality occurred in January, followed by December (22%) during the study period. However, cold wave mortality varied from district to district; northwestern districts of Bangladesh were more prone to cold waves and reported a higher mortality rate. During the study period, more children and males died due to cold waves than females in Bangladesh. The study findings serve as a foundation for future research and policy development to establish cold wave management guidelines to reduce the risk of cold wave exposures among vulnerable people in the country.
... Fig. 1), it is necessary to consider some nonmeteorological factors. This primarily includes changes in the proportion of people working in agriculture, a sector where exposure to thunderstorms outdoors or in open landscapes was more frequent (Elsom, 2001). In 1930, 2.316 million people were employed in this sector in the CR, and this number continuously decreased in subsequent decades: 1.588 million in 19461.588 million in , 0.832 million in 19611.588 million in , 0.578 million in 19811.588 million in , 156 000 in 20011.588 million in , and 133 000 in 20211.588 million in (Sálusová et al., 2003. ...
Demographic yearbooks of the Czech Republic, prepared by the Czech Statistical Office for the 1919–2022 period, contain official figures on the number of fatalities attributed to excessive natural cold, excessive natural heat, lightning, natural hazards, air pressure changes, and falls on ice or snow, as well as details about the sex and age of the deceased, covering a 104-year period or parts of it. These yearbooks, influenced by evolving international classifications of diseases, tend to underestimate the fatality numbers for excessive natural heat, natural hazards, and air pressure changes in particular. Out of a total of 9259 weather-related fatalities (with a mean annual rate of 89.0 fatalities), 74.9 % were caused by excessive natural cold and 19.3 % by lightning. No trend was identified in natural hazards, whilst statistically significant decreasing trends were found for lightning fatalities and increasing trends for excessive natural cold, excessive natural heat, and falls on ice or snow. Males and seniors aged ≥65 years were the most common sex and age categories affected. The number of fatalities attributed to excessive natural cold has partly increased as a result of the gradually ageing population and the rise in the number of homeless people since the 1990s. A statistically significant relationship between cold-related fatalities and mean January–February and winter (December–February) temperatures was established, evidenced by high negative correlation coefficients. Lightning deaths have notably decreased since the 1970s, primarily due to a significant reduction in the number of people employed in agriculture, an increase in urban population, better weather forecasting, lifestyle changes, and improved medical care. Although there is a significant positive correlation between these fatalities and the number of days with thunderstorms, the relationship is relatively weak. The results obtained for the Czech Republic align well with similar studies in Europe and elsewhere. While the demographic yearbooks cover only a part of weather-related fatalities, their circumstances, and characteristics, combining them with other similar databases is crucial to gain the necessary knowledge usable in risk management for the preservation of human lives.
... On the probabilistic account, risk-events are disvaluable events with a non-zero probability of occurring, given a body of evidence; high-risk events are disvaluable events with a high probability of occurring and low-risk events are disvaluable events with a low probability of occurring, with a continuum of riskiness between these extremes; and an event E1 is higher risk than an event E2 if the probability of E1's occurring is higher than the probability of E2's occurring. The probabilistic account of risk says, for example, that there is a very low risk that I will be killed by lightning strike this year, as there is a very low (but non-zero) probability that this event will occur, relative to my evidence: about one in 19 million, or 0.0000012 (Elsom, 2001). In contrast, there is a high risk of dying when playing Russian roulette: just under 1 in 6, or 0.1666… 2 . ...
Three philosophical accounts of risk dominate the contemporary literature. On the probabilistic account, risk has to do with the probability of a disvaluable event obtaining; on the modal account, it has to do with the modal closeness of that event obtaining; on the normic account, it has to do with the normalcy of that event obtaining. The debate between these accounts has proceeded via counterexample-trading, with each account having some cases it explains better than others, and some cases that it cannot explain at all. In this article, we attempt to break the impasse between the three accounts of risk through a shift in methodology. We investigate the concept of risk via the method of conceptual reverse-engineering, whereby a theorist reconstructs the need that a concept serves for a group of agents in order to illuminate the shape of the concept: its intension and extension. We suggest that risk functions to meet our need to make decisions that reduce disvalue under conditions of uncertainty. Our project makes plausible that risk is a pluralist concept: meeting this need requires that risk takes different forms in different contexts. But our pluralism is principled: each of these different forms are part of one and the same concept, that has a ‘core-to-periphery’ structure, where the form the concept takes in typical cases (at its ‘core’) explains the form it takes in less typical cases (at its ‘periphery’). We then apply our findings to epistemic risk, to resolve an ambiguity in how ‘epistemic risk’ is standardly understood.
... Fig. 1), it is necessary to consider some non-meteorological factors. This primarily includes changes in the proportion of people working in agriculture, a sector where exposure to thunderstorms outdoors or in open landscapes was more frequent (Elsom, 2001). In 1930, 2.316 million people were employed in this sector in the CR, and this number continuously decreased in subsequent decades: 1.588 million in 1946, 0.832 million in 1961, 0.578 million in 1981, 156,000 in 2001, and 455 133,000 in 2021 (Sálusová et al., 2003, updated). ...
Demographic yearbooks of the Czech Republic, prepared by the Czech Statistical Office for the period 1919–2022, contain official figures for the number, gender, and age of fatalities attributed to excessive natural cold, excessive natural heat, lightning, natural disasters, air pressure changes, and falls on ice or snow, covering a 104-year period or its parts. These yearbooks, influenced by evolving international classifications of diseases, tend to underestimate the fatality numbers for excessive natural heat, natural disasters, and especially air pressure changes. Out of a total of 9,259 weather-related fatalities (with a mean annual rate of 89.0 fatalities), 74.9 % were caused by excessive natural cold and 19.3 % by lightning. Except for a zero linear trend in natural disasters, statistically significant decreasing trends were found for lightning fatalities, and increasing trends for excessive natural cold, excessive natural heat, and falls on ice or snow. Males and seniors aged ≥65 years were the most common gender and age categories affected. The number of fatalities attributed to excessive natural cold has partly increased as a result of the gradually aging population and the rise in the number of homeless people since the 1990s. A statistically significant relationship between cold-related fatalities and mean January–February and winter (December–February) temperatures was established, evidenced by high negative correlation coefficients. Lightning deaths have notably decreased since the 1970s, primarily due to a significant reduction in the number of people employed in agriculture, an increase in urban population, better weather forecasting, lifestyle changes, and improved medical care. Although there is a significant positive correlation between these fatalities and the number of days with thunderstorms, the relationship is relatively weak. The results obtained for the Czech Republic align well with similar studies in Europe and elsewhere. While the demographic yearbooks cover only a part of weather-related fatalities, their circumstances, and characteristics, combining them with other similar databases is crucial to gain necessary knowledge usable in risk management for the preservation of human lives.
... ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.05.23296621 doi: medRxiv preprint U.K., the majority perceived the effects as relatively inconsequential and opted not to seek further medical attention. 17 Despite the relative paucity of lightning related death for indoor activities and the minor nature of the injuries, the CDC issues guidance on how to further reduce this risk when inside during a thunderstorm. ...
Objective: To assess the evidence underlying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indoor safety guidance for lightning storms.
Design: Systematic Review of peer-reviewed literature.
Setting: Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science (through 2023).
Participants: Reports of indoor death or injury from lightning strike.
Main outcome measures: The number of deaths and injuries from lightning-related activities.
Results: A majority of the 15 articles identified were retrospective reviews of data from death certificates, medical records, and newspaper reports; 5 articles were based on single case reports. Reports of injuries from lightning while indoors are exceedingly rare; death from lightning while indoors is essentially non-existent in modern times. No evidence exists that supports the given advice.
Conclusions: Current U.S. lightning avoidance tips may inadvertently portray indoor spaces as unsafe, despite their protective advantage. Guidelines should place less emphasis on indoor situations and highlight controllable risks, such as behavior in outdoor and recreation situations.
... Ice crystals in clouds can significantly effect weather and climate (Elsom, 2001;Changnon, 2003;Field and Heymsfield, 2015;Púčik et al., 2019). Yet, the formation of ice crystals, especially in mixed-phase clouds, is still not well understood. ...
We provide the first systematic study of ice formation in idealised shallow clouds from collisions of supercooled water drops with ice particles (mode 2). Using the University of Manchester bin microphysics parcel model, we investigated the sensitivity of ice formation due to mode 2 for a wide range of parameters, including aerosol particle size distribution, updraft speed, cloud-base temperature, cloud depth, ice-nucleating particle concentration, and freezing fraction of mode 2. We provide context to our results with other secondary ice production mechanisms as single mechanisms and combinations (rime splintering, spherical freezing fragmentation of drops (mode 1), and ice–ice collisions). There was a significant sensitivity to aerosol particle size distribution when updraft speeds were low (0.5 m s−1); secondary ice formation did not occur when the aerosol particle size distribution mimicked polluted environments. Where secondary ice formation did occur in simulated clouds, significant ice formation in the shallower clouds (1.3 km deep) was due to mode 2 or a combination which included mode 2. The deeper clouds (2.4 km deep) also had significant contributions from rime splintering or ice–ice collisional breakup secondary ice production (SIP) mechanisms. While simulations with cloud-base temperatures of 7 ∘C were relatively insensitive to ice-nucleating particle concentrations, there was a sensitivity in simulations with cloud-base temperatures of 0 ∘C. Increasing the ice-nucleating particle concentration delayed ice formation. Our results suggest that collisions of supercooled water drops with ice particles may be a significant ice formation mechanism within shallow convective clouds where rime splintering is not active.
... In the case of a lightning strike, a very short time (a fraction of a second) but a very high current must be expected, at which the muscle spasm induced can be fatal. The number of deaths caused by lightning in Great Britain is low due to the low intensity of thunderstorms: on average, there are 0.05 deaths per million inhabitants (Elsom, 2001). However, a single case can also carry great involvement (BBC, 2019a). ...
The extraterrestrial impacts on our planet can be broadly divided into two groups. The first is the activity of the Sun, which is the source of life on Earth. The second is the impact of meteor showers, which cause impacts, or impact phenomena, which form small or large circular symmetrical craters. This compilation describes the physical background of these processes and their effects on the living environment. Extraterrestrial impacts ranging from small disturbances (small earthquakes) to major ones (the extinction of dinosaurs in the Upper Cretaceous in Earth’s history) can significantly impact humanity. The damage from impacts is much less likely to occur than any of the natural hazards analysed earlier, but we outline the options available to mitigate the adverse impacts.
... Most surface rainfall events that occur across the globe are associated with the ice phase within clouds in Earth's atmosphere (Field and Heymsfield, 2015), as are severe weather events such as freezing rain, hail and thunderstorms (Changnon, 2003;Púčik et al., 2019;Elsom, 2001). Therefore, understanding the processes which govern ice formation in clouds is crucial for determining their effects on both climate and weather. ...
We provide the first dedicated laboratory study of collisions of supercooled water drops with ice particles as a secondary ice production mechanism. We experimentally investigated collisions of supercooled water drops (∼ 5 mm in diameter) with ice particles of a similar size (∼ 6 mm in diameter) placed on a glass slide at temperatures >-12 ∘C. Our results showed that secondary drops were generated during both the spreading and retraction phase of the supercooled water drop impact. The secondary drops generated during the spreading phase were emitted too fast to quantify. However, quantification of the secondary drops generated during the retraction phase with diameters >0.1 mm showed that 5–10 secondary drops formed per collision, with approximately 30 % of the secondary drops freezing over a temperature range between −4 and −12 ∘C. Our results suggest that this secondary ice production mechanism may be significant for ice formation in atmospheric clouds containing large supercooled drops and ice particles.
... Lightning activity is potentially hazardous to human health (e.g., Elsom, 2001;Ashley and Gilson, 2009;Elsom and Webb, 2014), affects aviation safety (e.g., Mäkelä et al., 2013;Wilkinson et al., 2013) and can cause wildfires (e.g., Rorig and Ferguson, 2002). For this reason, it is useful to understand the conditions in which lightning storms occur and to be able to use this information to eventually improve forecasts of lightning occurrence. ...
To understand the climatology of lightning affecting Britain and Ireland and to investigate the large‐scale environments which produce lightning in this region, relationships between mean sea‐level pressure (MSLP) patterns and thunderstorm occurrence are investigated. Using daily data between 2010 and 2019, instances of lightning activity are examined against a set of 30 pre‐defined weather patterns based on MSLP. Metrics relating to thunder area, thunder intensity and duration are introduced and evaluated on the data set. The results show that in summer the largest and long‐lived lightning outbreaks can be linked to three weather patterns. Two of these have strong southerly flow affecting the domain of study. The third is a low‐pressure system centred over the UK with weak pressure gradient, which also produces larger lightning outbreaks during the autumn. In the wintertime, lightning outbreaks appear associated with deeper low‐pressure systems, higher pressure gradients and strong winds in four dominant weather patterns. In spring, lightning occurs mostly in smaller systems and can be of multiple weather patterns. It is hypothesised that the weather pattern number is a good predictor of atmospheric instability. Cases where lightning activity does not match the expected behaviour for a given weather pattern are thought to be due to anomalies or variation in atmospheric instability. Several applications of this work are also discussed, including looking at thunder days over the study domain in past and future climate scenarios.
... Other weather hazards attract less attention. For example, lightning fatalities and injuries were studied for the United Kingdom by Elsom (2001) and Elsom and Webb (2014) and for Romania by Antonescu and Cȃrbunaru (2018). Haque et al. (2016) investigated fatal landslides in Europe. ...
This paper presents an analysis of fatalities attributable to weather conditions in the Czech Republic during the 2000–2019 period. The database of fatalities deployed contains information extracted from Právo, a leading daily newspaper, and Novinky.cz, its internet equivalent, supplemented by a number of other documentary sources. The analysis is performed for floods, windstorms, convective storms, rain, snow, glaze ice, frost, heat, and fog. For each of them, the associated fatalities are investigated in terms of annual frequencies, trends, annual variation, spatial distribution, cause, type, place, and time as well as the sex, age, and behaviour of casualties. There were 1164 weather-related fatalities during the 2000–2019 study period, exhibiting a statistically significant falling trend. Those attributable to frost (31 %) predominated, followed by glaze ice, rain, and snow. Fatalities were at their maximum in January and December and at their minimum in April and September. Fatalities arising out of vehicle accidents (48 %) predominated in terms of structure, followed by freezing or hypothermia (30 %). Most deaths occurred during the night. Adults (65 %) and males (72 %) accounted for the majority of fatalities, while indirect fatalities were more frequent than direct ones (55 % to 45 %). Hazardous behaviour accounted for 76 %. According to the database of the Czech Statistical Office, deaths caused by exposure to excessive natural cold are markedly predominant among five selected groups of weather-related fatalities, and their numbers exhibit a statistically significant rise during 2000–2019. Police yearbooks of the fatalities arising out of vehicle accidents indicate significantly decreasing trends in the frequency of inclement weather patterns associated with fatal accidents as well as a decrease in their percentage in annual numbers of fatalities. The discussion of results includes the problems of data uncertainty, comparison of different data sources, and the broader context.
... All of these processes may trigger convection and, hence, lightning activity. Therefore, it is considered as a form of natural hazards requiring risk analysis, in terms of changing regional climatic pattern, from both spatial and temporal perspectives (Elsom, 1996(Elsom, , 2001Berz et al., 2001). Unprecedented changes in climates can Atmospheric Research 183 (2017) [173][174][175][176][177][178][179][180][181][182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190] also bring benefits and threats to societies and the range of these will have a disproportional spread with respect to the manifestations both from anthropogenic effects and that due to weather extremes. ...
The association of lightning activity with the long-term as well as seasonal spatio-temporal distribution of con-vective available potential energy (CAPE), surface convective precipitation, vegetation cover and anthropogenic aerosol loading over the Indian sub-continent has been studied for the period 2000-2014. The northeast to northwest arc including the foothills of the Himalayas is the primary seats of lightning occurrences. The correlations of lightning activity with each of aerosol loading, vegetation cover, convective instability and convective precipitation helps us in understanding the definite entity that is responsible for changing the lightning activity in different parts of this tropical region. Lightning flash rate (LFR) has significant positive correlations (r~0.5-0.7) with AOD, CAPE and surface convective precipitation but significant negative correlation (r~−0.4) with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Using global circulation models from the Climate Model Intercompar-ison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), time-series of observed and projected upper tropospheric water vapor, surface convective precipitation and aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the historical simulations (1996-2005) and RCP8.5 emission scenario (2036-2045) are analyzed over the Indian region that are vulnerable to climate change in terms of occurrence of convective events and associated hazardous lightning phenomena. This study indicates that upper tropospheric water vapor (300 hPa) has a significant linkage with the lightning occurrences associated with convective activities and strong updraft. During the mid-21st century, AOD, surface convective precipitation and specific humidity are projected to increase by 1.42%, 2.01% and 1.40%, respectively which may result in regional changes in lightning activity over the Indian sub-continent.
... In the earth atmosphere, climatological variable particularly temperature increase each 1°C may intensify 20-40% lightning catastrophe [1]. Moreover, the increasing trends of lightning catastrophe affected human life and livelihoods [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10], living organisms and animals [11][12][13][14] all over the world. Agriculture based tropical and sub-tropical Asian countries are vulnerable to death due to lightning hazard [15]. ...
This paper tries to explore the spatial patterns of lightning disaster death susceptibility in Bangladesh. It is prior need to identify the factors of death due to lightning hazard, seasonal variability, and spatial risks to develop management strategies of this country. To reach the study goal, lightning fatalities data were collected from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Bangladesh. The geostatistical IDW model of GIS technology was applied to assess the spatial vulnerability of lightning disaster. The geospatial prediction maps produced from the study determines the spatial heterogeneity of lightning risk. Generated statistics demonstrates that the Surma Basin, northwest Brinda tract, and northern Tertiary hilly region of Bangladesh are more susceptible to lightning disaster during the time span 2015–2018. Analysis results also discloses numerous factors such as climatic variability, geomorphological diverseness and anthropogenic phenomena influencing lightning catastrophes. Moreover, this study suggests that government and non-government disaster management organizations can play vital role to take initiative in risk assess, policy creation review, awareness building and campaign, community-based early warning system, emergency management system and appropriate technology piloting as well as implementation. The rationale of this study will contribute to assess spatial lightning strikes, mitigate locational vulnerability and promote sustainable development plans for reducing lightning disaster risk. In the future, GIS-based communication model like this can applied to raise awareness and educating and engaging the public through public–private partnership of the lightning hot spot regions.
... Lightning is known to be a silent killer of nature, despite the huge bang it produces, due to the fact that it kills sporadically all over the world. Most of the methodical studies on lightning injury and death have been done in developed countries such as USA [1][2][3][4][5][6], UK [7][8][9], Australia [10][11][12], and France [13,14]. A common feature of lightning casualties in these countries is the low number of deaths per strike. ...
Lightning affects human beings and animals through several mechanisms of which direct strikes are referred as the most lethal. However, our investigations show that a clear majority of multiple lightning deaths by a single ground flash has been occurred while the victims were inside structures, where injury due to direct strikes is impossible. This study analyses the electric field distribution of a lightning struck unprotected building, during the return stroke current phase. The outcomes depict that the field enhancement at the head level of the occupants at various locations inside the structure is large enough to attract arcing from either the roof or the walls. The field enhancement strongly depends on the type of lightning current and the materials of the roofing and walls. For the simulation of lightning current waveforms and distribution of electrical fields and potentials, MatLab and ANSYS Maxwell software has been used. Consequently, the paper emphasizes the need for implementing low-cost protection schemes in underprivileged societies in regions of high lightning density to minimize the casualties.
... Badoux et al. [31] investigated fatalities related to several natural hazards in Switzerland for the 1946-2015 period. Lightning fatalities and injuries going back to 1852 in the United Kingdom were studied by Elsom [32] and for 1988-2012 by Elsom and Webb [33] (see also [34] for a broader, worldwide overview). Recently, Heiser et al. [35] reported the Austrian torrential event catalogue. ...
This paper presents the potential of documentary evidence for enhancing the study of fatalities taking place in the course of hydrological and meteorological events (HMEs). Chronicles, “books of memory”, weather diaries, newspapers (media), parliamentary proposals, epigraphic evidence, systematic meteorological/hydrological observations, and professional papers provide a broad base for gathering such information in the Czech Republic, especially since 1901. The spatiotemporal variability of 269 fatalities in the Czech Republic arising out of 103 HMEs (flood, flash flood, windstorm, convective storm, lightning, frost, snow/glaze-ice calamity, heat, and other events) in the 1981–2018 period is presented, with particular attention to closer characterisation of fatalities (gender, age, cause of death, place, type of death, and behaviour). Examples of three outstanding events with the highest numbers of fatalities (severe frosts in the extremely cold winter of 1928/1929, a flash flood on 9 June 1970, and a rain flood in July 1997) are described in detail. Discussion of results includes the problem of data uncertainty, factors influencing the numbers of fatalities, and the broader context. Since floods are responsible for the highest proportion of HME-related deaths, places with fatalities are located mainly around rivers and drowning appears as the main cause of death. In the further classification of fatalities, males and adults clearly prevail, while indirect victims and hazardous behaviour are strongly represented.
... Overall, the mortality of lightning injury is only about 10% [14,15] but increases to about 30% when people are struck by lightning outdoors [1,2]. There are five known mechanisms of lightning injury: direct strikes accounting for 3-5% of the cases, side flashes for 30-35%, contact injury 3-5%, upward streamer 10-15% and ground current 50-55% [3,15]. ...
Direct lightning strikes to the human head can lead to various effects, ranging from burnings to death. The biological and physical mechanisms of a direct lightning strike in the human head are not well understood. The aim of this paper is to design an experimental setup to measure the spatial and temporal current distribution during a direct lightning strike to physical head phantoms to establish normative values for personal lightning protection equipment design and testing. We created head phantoms made of agarose, replicating the geometric and dielectric properties of scalp, skull, and intracranial volume. The bases of the three compartments were galvanically contacted via copper electrodes to measure the current per compartment. We used pulse generators to apply aperiodic voltage and current signals that modelled lightning components. Our experiments indicated that the scalp compartment was exposed to the current with a fraction of 80–90%. The brain and skull compartments were exposed between 6–13% and 3–6% of the total measured current respectively. In case of a flashover, most of the current (98–99%) flowed through the discharge channel. Unlike previous theoretical estimates and measurements in technical setups, we observed considerably longer times for the flashover to build up. In our experiments, the time to build up a fully formed flashover varied from approximately 30–700 μs. The observed current patterns in cases without and with flashover provided information on regions of possible damage in the human head. Consequently, we identified the phenomenon of a flashover as a potential mechanism for humans to survive a lightning strike. Our measured current distributions and amplitudes formed the base for normative values, which can be used in later experimental investigations regarding the possibilities of individual lightning protection equipment for humans.
... The devastating impact of lightning hazards can be minimised adopting mitigation approaches [23][24][25]. Mitigation approaches include devising public policy, lightning protected infrastructure, public awareness as well as safety measures [12,26,27]. It is required to explore the spatial trends, time, location and the better understanding of lightning hazards to provide the required information for developing mitigation approaches [28][29][30]. ...
Lightning is one of the frequent catastrophic hazards to people and properties across the world. Bangladesh is one of the major lightning prone countries in the world. Information regarding the spatial, temporal and demographic distribution of lightning casualties is required to develop mitigation policies to minimize the impacts of lightning. This study aims to analyse the spatial, temporal and demographic distribution of lightning-related casualties in the northeastern part of Bangladesh from 2016 to 2018. The database of lightning casualties was developed from a variety of sources including government and private agencies. Records dating from 2016 to 2018 indicate that about 78 and 60 people have been killed and injured, respectively by lightning strikes. The highest number of lightning fatalities were reported in the districts of Kishoreganj (31%), Habiganj (18%) and Sunamganj (15%). The overall fatality rate is 1.76 per million people per year, and fatality density rate is 0.00388 per million people km−2 year−1. The majority of fatalities and injuries occurred within the early morning 0800 and early evening 1700 at local time. The number of fatalities was higher in April–May during the pre-monsoon season. The maximum number of people died by lightning during farming activities, followed by fishing, boating or bathing in water bodies. The findings of the study are highly beneficial to the administrator and policymakers to develop lightning mitigation plans, improve public awareness and lightning safety campaign to reduce the impacts of lightning hazards.
... Lightning is a beautiful manifestation, but scary at the same time. In the tropical regions, about 20% of the lightning sparks strike the ground, whereas the rest occurs inside a cloud (Elsom, 2000;Cooray, Cooray and Andrews, 2007). During a lightning strike (Cooray et al., 2007), the channel temperature will be raised in a few microseconds and, as a result, the pressure in the channel may increase to several atmospheres. ...
The paper aimed at revealing lightning myths and traditional beliefs among Rwandans. It provides an overview of their feelings, opinions, and worries as well as facts on thunderstorms using summative-written text and focus-group discussion where about 315 people participated in this research. The conception of the thunder in Rwandan culture was found different from the one we learn from Physics class. For instance, in this study, we found that more traditional beliefs are found in old and non-educated people. Even though some traces are found in intellectuals, however, they are overcome as they become more educated. Though it is believed that witch doctors can traditionally use the term 'thunder' attributed in their activities as the same lightning phenomenon, this occurs in unplanned time and situation, striking their so-called “own enemies”. Overcoming the worries related to traditional beliefs using scientific researchers’ testimonies and safety were also discussed. For instance, though none can be totally safe from a lightning hit, prevention strategies can lessen risks. Thus, avoidance oflightning damage should be an individual duty and everyone should know daily local weather predictions and harmful consequences.
Key words: thunderstorm, lightning myths, traditional beliefs, a witch doctor
... Lightning is a spectacular but potentially dangerous phenomenon. Wildfires (Flannigan and Wotton, 1991;Rorig and Ferguson, 1999;Liu et al., 2010;Peterson et al., 2010), industrial accidents (Chang and Lin, 2006;Renni et al., 2010;Krausmann et al., 2011), aviation accidents (Cherington and Mathys, 1995) and human fatalities in general (Coates et al., 1993;Ashley and Gilson, 2009;Elsom, 2001;Cardoso et al., 2014;Papagiannaki et al., 2013) are some of the possible outcomes of the atmospheric electrical phenomena. Such a dangerous but at the same time interesting phenomenon merits and of course receives tremendous attention by weather scientists and researchers. ...
The Price-Rind 92 parameterization (Price and Rind, 1992) that utilizes cloud top height as predictor for the estimation of lightning density is widely used by modelers in an attempt to forecast electrical activity in thunderstorms. In the present paper new parameterizations for the estimation of lightning density of convective clouds are formulated. LINET lightning data, NWC SAF (Satellite Application Facility on support to Nowcasting and Very Short-Range Forecasting) products and ERA-Interim (ECMWF-Re Analysis) data, covering the summer of 2016 over continental Europe, are used. The proposed models estimate the lightning density of convective clouds, using cloud top height, cloud top pressure and cold cloud depth as predictors. Model efficiency statistics calculated over an independent dataset, suggest that the proposed models can be considered successful over the specific area (continental Europe) and period (summer). The new cloud top height model differs from the PR92 and other parameterizations, which is not an unexpected result, since every model has its own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. The new parameterizations could be utilized in numerical model simulations to produce quantitative estimations of the amount of strokes over convective areas.
... Sweat on the victim's skin or moisture in wet garments acts as the conductor, and the inherent explosive effect of lightning caused by the rapid expansion of the surrounding air as the energy charge travels over the victim may result in blast injuries similar to those sustained in an explosion. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23] By 1-3 months follow up there was complete healing of the membrane and return to normal hearing in majority of uncomplicated cases. If the perforation fails to close spontaneously in 3-6 months (in absence of infection), surgical closure is indicated. ...
p class="abstract"> Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate various etiological factors, clinical presentation in patients presenting with Traumatic ear perforations.
Methods: 27 patients were taken in our study who reported within two weeks of history of trauma with no previous history of middle ear pathology. Data was collected and patients were treated.
Results: 27 patients were studied (11 males and 16 females); age ranging from 15 years to 56 years. Laterality of trauma was found to be more in left ear. Aural Fullness & pain in ear were the most common presenting complaints. Most common etiology was found to be assault and poster inferior quadrant was found to be most commonly involved.
Conclusions: Traumatic perforations have a very good prognosis if they are treated at the right time. We would also like to stress on the fact that domestic violence is still prevalent in our society leading to patients of traumatic perforation.
</p
... The annual global flash rate ranges between 55 and 35 flashes per second in the northern hemisphere during summer and winter seasons, respectively (Christian et al. 2003). Nearly 10-20% lightning flashes hit the ground in the tropical region while 50% is the corresponding figure in temperate regions (Elsom 2000). ...
This study investigates the frequency distribution of thunderstorm activity over Pakistan via the analysis of two convective parameters, i.e., convective available potential energy (CAPE) and convective inhibition (CIN). The climatology and trends of thunderstorm frequency, CAPE, and CIN have been analyzed, based on seasonal and annual timescales, by using station and reanalysis datasets. Thirty-eight years (1979–2016) data of monthly thunderstorm days for 54 meteorological stations, well-distributed over the country, have been utilized in this study. Those meteorological stations which constitute core region of thunderstorm frequency are identified. Our analysis showed that the mountainous and sub-mountainous areas of Pakistan, particularly in upper half of the country, are at the top with the maximum thunderstorm activity on both seasonal and annual timescales. Pre-monsoon (April–June) and monsoon (July–September) are most vulnerable seasons to the development of thunderstorms. It is also observed that most of the stations exhibit an increase in the thunderstorm days during winter (December–March) and decrease during pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon (October–November) seasons. Interestingly, core regions of CAPE and thunderstorm frequency almost coincide with region of low CIN. However, trends in CAPE do not explain the variability and trends of thunderstorm frequency over the whole study area explicitly. At some stations, trends in CAPE are increasing in contrast to thunderstorm frequency trends. We showed, in particular, that the increasing trend of CIN is a likely reason for decreasing trends of thunderstorm frequency over Pakistan. In total, 17 stations are identified to be the most vulnerable to thunderstorm activity over the country.
... The lightning flashes striking the ground from time to time interact, with the humans and cause serious injuries and sometimes death and are therefore regarded as a form of natural hazards demanding risk analysis, in aspects of spatiotemporal perspectives and the changing climate (Elsom, 2001;Berz et al., 2001). Global estimates of fatalities due to lightning range from 6000 to 24000 per year but shockingly, there has been little-organized information on lightning deaths in many parts of the world making it challenging to evaluate the worldwide yearly lightning fatality rates (Gomes and Kadir, 2011). ...
Spatio-temporal variation of lightning activity over the Jammu and Kashmir province has been studied in the present research using LIS data for the period of 12 years (2001–2013). In addition, the association of lightning activity with the elevation range, vegetation cover, and absorbing aerosol index (AAI) has been studied using the LULC data of MODIS, elevation data of SRTM DEM and multi-sensor AAI data (GOME-1, SCIAMACHY, GOME-2 and OMI). It was observed through the analysis of data sets that the J&K region which lies in the Himalayan range experiences very high frequency of lightning occurrences in entire India. The lightning frequency is much higher towards the south-western side of J&K region at an altitude range of 300–1600 m. It was observed that the mixed forests and croplands contribute more towards the higher occurrence of the lightning activity. Furthermore, it has been discerned that there is a positive correlation between the Mean Monthly flash density (FD) and Mean Monthly Absorbing aerosol index (AAI) with a correlation coefficient of 0.61 and an increase in FD and AAI was observed in summer months and decreases towards the onset of spring to winter. The comparison between the AAI and FD indicates that the spatial distribution of the two components has alike features over southwestern portion, with maximum values in the summer months and decrease upto the winter season. The findings of the present study suggest that the elevation range, Absorbing Aerosol Index along with the type of LULC plays an important role in a linkage with the occurrence of higher lightning activities in J&K region.
... Among those, males made up 68% and females 32% representing an approximate ratio of 9:5. This gender disparity has also been observed in other research, for example in flood-related fatalities [12,13,30,31] and in lightning-related fatalities [32][33][34][35]. In all cases there was a high male to female ratio of fatalities. ...
Texas ranks first in the U.S in number of fatalities due to natural disasters. Based on data culled from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1959 to 2016, the number of hydrometeorological fatalities in Texas have increased over the 58-year study period, but the per capita fatalities have significantly decreased. Spatial review found that non-coastal flooding is the predominant hydrometeorological disaster in a majority of the Texas counties located in “Flash Flood Alley” and accounts for 43% of all hydrometeorological fatalities in the state. Flooding fatalities occur most frequently on “Transportation Routes” followed by heat fatalities in “Permanent Residences”. Seasonal and monthly stratification identifies Spring and Summer as the deadliest seasons, with the month of May registering the highest number of total fatalities dominated by flooding and tornado fatalities. Demographic trends of hydrometeorological disaster fatalities indicated that approximately twice as many male fatalities occurred from 1959-2016 than female fatalities, but with decreasing gender disparity over time. Adults are the highest fatality risk group overall, children are most at risk to die in flooding, and the elderly at greatest risk of heat-related death.
... The temperature information is of great significance to the research in relevant fields (Li et al., 2016). Existing research shows that lightning causes not only casualties, but also serious economic losses to aviation, aerospace, national defense construction, power, communications, electronic industry, petrochemical, transportation, forest and other industries, and it has become one of the most destructive natural disasters (Elsom, 2001;Li et al., 2017;Mou, 2012;Nagesh et al., 2015;Vacik and Müller, 2017). Therefore, lightning discharge features have always been a hot topic in the field of lightning research and protection. ...
... Over the last three decades, there has been a reduction in the case fatality rate. 7,49,50 This can be attributed to several reasons including better public education and safety regulations for outdoor and indoor activities, lightning protection measures in buildings and other structures, as well as medical pathways and protocols to promptly tend to and manage victims effectively. 7 Nonetheless, despite ease of access to more accurate weather forecasting and thunderstorm warning systems, people may still get caught in adverse weather. ...
Lightning strikes are a common and leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Multiple organ systems can be involved, though the effects of the electrical current on the cardiovascular system are one of the main modes leading to cardiorespiratory arrest in these patients. Cardiac effects of lightning strikes can be transient or persistent, and include benign or life-threatening arrhythmias, inappropriate therapies from cardiac implantable electronic devices, cardiac ischaemia, myocardial contusion, pericardial disease, aortic injury, as well as cardiomyopathy with associated ventricular failure. Prolonged resuscitation can lead to favourable outcomes especially in young and previously healthy victims.
... Meanwhile, Doswell (2003), Ashley (2007) and Simmons and Sutter (2008) suggested that the off-season tornadoes may be more deadly because people are more aware of the hazard during the traditional severe weather season (April-June) and less prepared during other times of the year in the United States. Similarly, spatial and temporal studies on lightning-related casualties and damages have been analyzed for different countries (Coates et al., 1993;Curran et al., 2000;Elsom, 2001;Blumenthal, 2005;Mills et al., 2008;Zhang et al., 2011). Besides the aforementioned, a number of other studies have investigated the impacts of thunderstorms on humans (Kelly et al., 1985;Doswell et al., 2005;Black & Ashley, 2010). ...
... The annual mortality incidence from lightning strikes was reported to be 0.2 to 0.8 per million people (6). The average annual number of deaths due to lightning per million people was reported to be 0.05 in the United Kingdom (13). The average annual incidence of fatal lightning strikes was 0.02 per million people in Van and Hakkâri Provinces. ...
ABSTRACT: Objective: To report the largest series of lightning-related deaths in Turkey, to review the literature on this subject, and to identify similarities and differences between the autopsy findings in this study and the information available in literature. Methods: In this study, autopsy reports and crime scene investigation data on 11 lightningrelated fatalities that occurred in the Van and Hakkâri Provinces, Turkey, from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015 were retrospectively reviewed.Results: Of the 1699 fatalities, 11 (2.53%) evaluated by medico-legal autopsy in the Van and Hakkâri Province in a 5-year period died from lightning strikes. Of these cases, 10 (90.1%) were males and 1 (9.9%) was female (p < 0.05). All cases were in the 11 to 33 years age group. All cases were injured outdoors. Conclusion: We concluded that deaths due to lightning strikes are relatively rare in Turkey, and may be reduced with precautions such as avoiding staying under trees or in the vicinity of high towers, refraining from touching metal objects, avoiding lying on the ground, leaning on walls, and crouching outdoors. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** ÖZET: Amaç: Türkiye'deki en büyük yıldırım kaynaklı ölüm serilerini raporlamak, bu konudaki literatürü gözden geçirmek ve bu çalışmadaki otopsi bulguları ile literatürdeki bilgiler arasındaki benzerlik ve farklılıkları belirlemek. Yöntemler: Bu çalışmada, Türkiye'nin Van ve Hakkâri illerinde 1 Ocak 2011-31 Aralık 2015 tarihleri arasında yıldırım düşmesi sonucu meydana gelen 11 ölüm vakasına ilişkin otopsi raporları ve olay yeri inceleme verileri geriye dönük olarak incelendi. Sonuçlar: 1699 ölümden 11'i Van ve Hakkâri'de 5 yıllık süreçte adli otopsi ile değerlendirilen (%2.53) yıldırım çarpması sonucu yaşamını yitirdi. Bu olguların 10'u (%90.1) erkek, 1'i (%9.9) kadındı (p < 0.05). Tüm olgular 11-33 yaş grubundaydı. Tüm vakalar açık havada yaralandı. Sonuç: Türkiye'de yıldırım çarpmasına bağlı ölümlerin nispeten nadir olduğu ve ağaçların altında veya yüksek kulelerin yakınında kalmamak, metal nesnelere dokunmaktan kaçınmak, yere yatmaktan kaçınmak, yaslanmaktan kaçınmak, duvarlar ve dışarıda çömelme gibi önlemlerle azaltılabileceği sonucuna vardık.
... The outcomes of these research as well as the sociological studies that has been done on human perspectives and level of awareness on lightning threats among native populations, revealed that lightning related scientific work has not been extended to the regions with high casualty areas which needs much higher attention with regard to both safety and protection against lightning. These studies also emphasize that irrespective of the marked declination in lightning related deaths and injuries in developed countries during the last century [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], the situation in the developing world in Asian, African and Southern American continents, is either turning towards worse scenarios or is comparable with that of developed countries, many decades or a century back. ...
Lightning related casualties collected by the Institute of Meteorology in Mongolia from 2003 to 2015 have been analyzed. Being a country with one of the lowest population density, Mongolia records a relatively high human death rate per unit population per year, 15.4 dptm yr −1 , which is much higher than that of many countries with similar isokeraunic level. During this period 57 deaths and 58 injuries have been reported, thus death to injury ratio is nearly 1:1. Around 88% of both deaths and injuries has been reported to be occurred while the victim is in wild area, typically the low-grown slopes in steppe climate. Other 12% of the death and injury cases have been located either in open spaces within the village or inside the fabric enclosed houses known as ger. Nearly 80% of the gender-known deaths are of males. Almost 100% of the deaths of which the time of incident is known has happened between noon and midnight. Almost all case of injuries have also been reported during the same period. About 80% of the age-reported deaths were of people below 30 years. Slightly more than 50% of the deaths and 54% of the injuries have been reported from Central province.
There is evidence that humans can survive a direct lightning strike to the head. Our question is: could water (rain) on the skin contribute to an increase in the survival rate? We measure the influence of rain during high-energy direct lightning strikes on a realistic three-compartment human head phantom. We find a lower number of perforations and eroded areas near the lightning strike impact points on the head phantom when rain was applied compared to no rain. Current amplitudes in the brain were lower with rain compared to no rain before a fully formed flashover. We conclude that rain on the scalp potentially contributes to the survival rate of 70–90% due to: (1) lower current exposition in the brain before a fully formed flashover, and (2) reduced mechanical and thermal damage.
Background and Objectives: Lightning is one of
the most powerful and spectacular natural
phenomena. Consequential lighting strikes (CLS) is
lightning events causing physical injury,
unconsciousness or death to humans. While the
chance of being struck by lightning is statistically
very low, that risk becomes much greater in those
who frequently work or play outdoors. The risk of
being struck by lightning is dependent on regional,
seasonal and temporal factors.Materials
&Methods:It is a descriptive cross sectional
retrospective study was done in lightning injury
cases presented in Emergency ward of BPKIHS.
The data were taken from medical record section of
age >16 years with history of lightning strike injury
over the period of five (5) years from 2016-01-01
to 2020-12-30. Using below mentioned equation,
the sample size was calculated as 177. But 187
samples were taken and analyzed.
Sample size (n) = z2pq/d2
Results:168(89.8%) male and 19 (10.2%) female
were injured. Commonly involved age groups were
20-29 years and 60 to 69 years. Most of the
lightning strike cases were from April to August.
There were 13 mortalitiesout of total 187 victims
who had severe burn and other complications like
acute kidney injury, cardiac arrhythmia,
rhabdomyolysis.Conclusion: Lightning strike
injury is one of the major problems in eastern
Nepal and the lightning strike rate is quite common
compared to other parts of the world. Lightning
strike occurs more commonly to the adult male
working outdoors. Complications related to
lightning strike is 20.3%. Management of lightning
strike victim is mainly supportive and involves
management of the organ-system affected by the
strike.
We provide the first systematic study of ice formation in idealised shallow clouds from collisions of supercooled water drops with ice particles (‘mode 2’). Using the University of Manchester bin-microphysics parcel model, we investigated the sensitivity of ice formation due to mode 2 for a wide range of parameters: aerosol particle size distribution, updraft speed, cloud base temperature, cloud depth, ice-nucleating particle concentration and freezing fraction of mode 2. We provide context to our results with other secondary ice production mechanisms as single mechanisms and combinations (rime-splintering, spherical freezing fragmentation of drops [‘mode 1’] and ice-ice collisions). There was a significant sensitivity to aerosol particle size distribution when updraft speeds were low (0.5 m s−1); secondary ice formation did not occur when the aerosol particle size distribution mimicked polluted environments. Where secondary ice formation did occur in simulated clouds, significant ice formation in the shallower clouds (1.3 km deep) was due to mode 2 or a combination which included mode 2. The deeper clouds (2.4 km deep) also had significant contributions from rime-splintering or ice-ice collisions SIP mechanisms. While simulations with cloud base temperatures of 7 °C were relatively insensitive to ice-nucleating particle concentrations, there was a sensitivity in simulations cloud base temperatures of 0 °C. Increasing the ice-nucleating particle concentration delayed ice formation. Our results suggest that collisions of supercooled water drops with ice particles may be a significant ice formation mechanism within shallow convective clouds where rime-splintering is not active.
The consequences of meteorological hazards include an increase in the number of heatwaves, extreme storms, climate extremes in general and changes in hydrological processes. The chapter summarises many types of meteorological hazards and their negative consequences. These increasing numbers of hazards are grouped into three categories: extreme temperature events (e.g. cold and heatwaves), intense wind events (tropical and temperate cyclones) and extreme events associated with convective atmospheric motions (e.g. thunderstorms, extreme winds, dust and sandstorms). Climate change is undoubtedly a key driver of these often-extreme processes. One of its most characteristic features is the increase in temperature and the transformation of precipitation patterns. Still, the measurable consequences of heat and cold waves, changing wind and precipitation patterns can also cause serious environmental, health and financial problems.
Fatalities associated with severe weather, collected from newspapers and other documentary sources, were used to create a corresponding database for the 1961–2020 period for the Czech Republic. Fatalities attributed to floods, windstorms, convective storms, snow and glaze ice, frost, fog, and other severe weather, on the one hand, and vehicle accident fatalities connected with rain, snow, glaze ice, fog, and inclement weather, on the other, were analysed separately for two standard periods, 1961–1990 and 1991–2020. The number of weather-related fatalities between these two periods increased in the flood, windstorm, and especially frost categories, and decreased for the convective storm and fog categories. For snow and glaze ice they were the same. Despite significant differences in both 30-year periods, the highest proportions of fatalities corresponded to the winter months, and in individual fatality characteristics to males, adults, direct deaths, deaths by freezing or hypothermia, and to hazardous behaviour. A statistically significant (p < 0.05) Spearman rank
correlation between fatalities and climate variables was only found in the 1991–2020 period for snow/glaze ice-related fatalities, with the number of days with snow cover depth and frost-related fatalities having days with daily minimum temperatures below -5 °C or -10 °C. Despite the highest°proportions of the rain and wet road categories being in the number of vehicle accident fatalities, a statistically significant correlation was only found for the category of snow-related fatalities in the number of days with snowfall. The results and conclusions of this study have to be evaluated in the broader context of climatological, political, economic, and societal changes within the country, and have the potential to be used in risk management.
A 26-year-old shepherd man was admitted to the emergency department in June 2020 after ground current effect of lightning strike. With the severity of the trauma, the patient fell to the ground and then fainted. Since the severity of the trauma was not known exactly, there was an open wound in the head, and the patient had dyspnea and elevated liver function tests, cranial, thorax and abdominal computed tomography (CT) were performed. On CT scan, approximately 7-cm-in length grade 3 liver laceration, extending between segment V and segment VIII was seen without intra-abdominal pathology. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). During the follow-up, liver function tests returned to normal. Liver laceration was managed conservatively. The patient was discharged on the 6th day of hospitalization, as no complications or massive bleeding signs were observed in the intensive care follow-up, his vital signs stabilized, and his symptoms improved.
In developing countries, lightning hazard is an underrated natural hazard despite having the potential to cause major loss and damages to human life and property and Bangladesh is not an exception. The existing national database of Bangladesh lacks information on lightning casualties. Hence, five years of database on lightning-related deaths and injuries from 2011 to 2016 was constructed through an innovative data mining process. An average of 913 casualties was identified, with an average of 182 people being affected by lightning occurrences each year in Bangladesh. The largest death toll was found among the male population (74%) compared to the females (26%), as males are more involved with labor-intensive agricultural practices in a developing country like Bangladesh. Most casualties occurred during the pre-monsoon (March–May) and monsoon (June–September) seasons with lightning incidents occurring mostly between morning (0600 LST) and afternoon (1800 LST). The most vulnerable age groups were found to be from 16 to 30 and 31 to 45 followed by <16, 46–60 and >60. Outdoor activities accounted for the highest number of lightening causalities; activities mostly involved agricultural practices followed by open area activities. Indoor dwellings also had significant amount of casualty especially in the veranda/balcony and while sleeping. The spatial distributions of lightning casualties were determined by GIS mapping; districts with no, low, moderate and high casualties were determined. Northwestern (Chapainawabganj) and northeastern districts (Kishoreganj and Moulavibazar) of Bangladesh accounted for the highest number of casualties. This study will therefore provide useful information in developing lightning safety measures in Bangladesh.
We experimentally investigated collisions of supercooled water drops (∼ 5 mm in diameter) with ice particles of a similar size placed on a glass slide at temperatures T ≥ −12 °C. Our results showed that secondary drops were generated during both the spreading and retraction phase of the supercooled water drop impact. The secondary drops generated during the spreading phase were emitted too fast to quantify. However, quantification of the secondary drops generated during the retraction phase with diameters > 0.1 mm showed that 5–10 secondary drops formed per collision, with approximately 30 % of the secondary drops freezing over a temperature range of −4 °C ≤ T ≤ −12 °C. Our investigation provides the first dedicated laboratory study of collisions of supercooled water drops with ice particles as a secondary ice production mechanism. Our results suggest that this secondary ice production mechanism may be significant for ice formation in atmospheric clouds containing large supercooled drops and ice particles.
This paper presents an analysis of fatalities attributable to weather conditions in the Czech Republic during the 2000–2019 period. The database of fatalities deployed contains information extracted from Právo, a leading daily newspaper, and Novinky.cz, its internet equivalent, supplemented by a number of other documentary sources. The analysis is performed for floods, windstorms, convective storms, rain, snow, glaze ice, frost, heat, and fog. For each of them, the associated fatalities are investigated in terms of annual frequencies, trends, annual variation, spatial distribution, cause, type, place, and time, as well as the sex, age, and behaviour of casualties. There were 1164 weather-related fatalities during the 2000–2019 study period, exhibiting a statistically significant falling trend. Those attributable to frost (31 %) predominated, followed by glaze ice, rain and snow. Fatalities were at their maximum in January and December and at their minimum in April and September. Fatalities arising out of vehicle accidents (48 %) predominated in terms of structure, followed by freezing or hypothermia (30 %). Most deaths occurred during the night. Adults (65 %) and males (72 %) accounted for the majority of fatalities, while indirect fatalities were more frequent than direct ones (55 % to 45 %). Hazardous behaviour accounted for 76 %. According to the database of the Czech Statistical Office, deaths caused by exposure to excessive natural cold are markedly predominant among five selected groups of weather-related fatalities and their numbers exhibit a statistically significant rise during 2000–2019. Police yearbooks of the fatalities arising out of vehicle accidents indicate significantly decreasing trends in the frequency of inclement weather patterns associated with fatal accidents, as well as a decrease in their percentage in annual numbers of fatalities. The discussion of results includes the problems of data uncertainty, comparison of different data sources, and the broader context.
Lightning strike is an environmental electrical injury with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Lightning strike injuries are also considered to be high-voltage injuries. Respiratory injuries associated with lightning strikes include pulmonary edema, pulmonary contusion, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and pulmonary hemorrhage. In addition to direct damage, the affected patients are also exposed to secondary trauma; similarly, many other mechanisms associated with lightning injury have the same risk. It will therefore always be a rational approach to evaluate patients as multiple trauma patients. In this case report, a 19-year-old patient was admitted to the emergency department with amnesia, disorientation, shortness of breath, abdominal pain complaints and lung contusion, and myopathy signs as a result of a lightning strike in open terrain. The patient had a blood pressure of 80/50 mmHg, a heart rate of 110/min, and oxygen saturation of 85%. Bilateral lung contusion and pleural effusion were detected on the computerized tomography of the thorax. In addition, global cardiac hypokinesia and the 20%-25% ejection fraction were detected on echocardiography. The central nervous system and abdominal scans were normal. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit and treated with supportive oxygen, intravenous hydration, antibiotics, systemic steroids, and invasive cardiac monitoring. On the 10th day of admission to the hospital, the patient was discharged with clinical and radiological improvement. On the 20th day after discharge, tomography scans showed no thoracic pathologic findings.
Lightning-related fatalities in Romania are analyzed and presented for the first time using data from the Romanian National Institute of Statistics. The database contains 724 lightning fatalities that occurred between 1999 and 2015 in Romania, corresponding to an average of 42.6 fatalities per year. The annual number of lightning fatalities decreased from 65 fatalities per year between 1999 and 2003 to 23.2 fatalities per year between 2011 and 2015. The majority of fatalities occurred in May-August (42% of all fatalities) with a peak in June (31%) and July (28%). The highest fatality rates (.2.6 fatalities per million inhabitants per year) are observed over southwestern Romania, a region characterized by high values of cloud-to-ground lightning density (.2 flashes per square kilometer per year) and by a relatively high percentage (.40%) of the population living in rural areas. The majority of fatalities (78%) were reported in rural areas. Approximately 78% of the victims were male. The most vulnerable group was males between the ages of 10-39 living in rural areas. To further reduce the lightning fatality rate in Romania, currently one of the highest in Europe, the authors argue that lightning mitigation activities and information campaigns about the risks associated with lightning should be initiated in Romania.
TORRO has initiated a national database for lightning injuries and deaths in the United Kingdom in order to estimate the lightning risks associated with different types of location and to understand the nature and severity of injuries caused by the different types of lightning strikes. This article employs incidents from 1994 to illustrate the different types of lightning strikes and injuries. Typically, about 24 people are struck by lightning in the UK each year, of whom four die. -Author
The nature of TORRO's database of lightning incidents in the British Isles is outlined. The general location categories into which each lightning injury and death incident is classified is explained. A preliminary analysis of the lightning injuries and deaths database for the period 1993-95 indicates that a total of 198 people were struck by lightning, an annual average of 66 people. The majority experienced only minor injuries (e.g. suffering a small electrical shock, being thrown to the ground, experiencing a brief blackout or temporary paralysis of the arm or legs). A minority experienced superficial (flashover) or full thickness burns and/or required resuscitation and a small number, nine people during 1993-95, were killed. All the lightning fatalities occurred outdoors but over half those people struck by lightning were indoors, with one-in-four of the incidents involving the telephone.
Objective
To review reported telephone‐related lightning injuries, outline the mechanisms of injury and suggest treatment strategies.
Data sources
Cases notified to Telecom Australia and an extensive search of the literature.
Data synthesis
There is a dearth of literature on telephone‐related lightning injury. Some reports note it in passing, others describe single incidents. Case reports from Australia provide detail sufficient for review, and the general principles which govern management of such injuries are presented.
Conclusion
Telephone‐related lightning injury is not rare. Practitioners should be aware of the uniqueness of lightning injury and the complexity of its assessment. A research program aimed at further elucidation of the detail of this injury is proceeding.
This paper discusses mechanisms of lightning injury and the potential physiological outcomes by means of a review of the literature from the past 25 years. A short case study of a family from Kent who were all struck at a football match in 1995 is included.
Modern knowledge of the amplitudes and waveshapes of lightning currents enables a method of determining the electrical effects of a direct lightning stroke to be established. It has been shown that this entails an initial current discharge through the body, followed by an external flashover. The amplitude and waveshape of the current flowing through a body can thus be determined. The phenomenon of a back flashover, which is a familiar concept to h.v. transmission engineers, is paralleled by the so-called side flash to a person or animal, e.g. when sheltering under a tree or in close proximity to a metal fence. Another possibility is a direct stroke to earth, producing so high a potential drop over the ground surface as to paralyse or shock people over a wide area. From the medical point of view, it is important to apply this knowledge to understand the nature of the current and its pathway through the body. It may then be possible to postulate the possible effects of the lightning stroke on the different bodily systems. While clearly it is not possible to test these conclusions by planned investigations, they may be examined in the light of reported observation from accidents.
Each year in Australia, about 60 people report injuries attributable to lightning surges while using a telephone during nearby thunderstorms. This paper presents information about such incidents and describes a retrospective survey of more than 300 telephone users reporting injuries possibly attributable to lightning. Questionnaires yielded 132 usable responses, and the results were analysed to identify the extent and nature of the lightning injuries. These are compared with direct strike injuries. Three distinct telephone-mediated lightning strike syndromes are identified (statistically) among the victims.
Telephone-mediated lightning strikes can cause serious injuries to vital structures in the head and neck region. Cataract is a well-known complication of direct lightning strikes. This is the first recorded case of cataract following indirect lightning strike mediated by a telephone.
Climate Change Scenarios for the United Kingdom: Scientific Report. UK Climate Impacts Programme Technical Report No. 1, Climatic Research Unit Protection from lightning
- M Hulme
- G J Jenkins
Hulme, M., Jenkins, G.J., 1998. Climate Change Scenarios for the United Kingdom: Scientific Report. UK Climate Impacts Programme Technical Report No. 1, Climatic Research Unit, Norwich. Mackerras, D., 1992. Protection from lightning. In: Andrews, C.J., Cooper, M.A., Darveniza, M., Mackerras, Ž. D. Eds., Lightning Injuries: Electrical Medical, and Legal Aspects. CRC Press, London, pp. 147–148.
Distribution of lightning-caused casualties and damages since 1959 in the United States
- R L Holle
- R E Lopez
- E B Curran
Holle, R.L., Lopez, R.E., Curran, E.B., 1999. Distribution of lightning-caused casualties and damages since 1959 in the United States. 11th Conference on Applied Climatology, Dallas, TX, January 1999. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA, pp. 363–370.
Learn to live with lightning
- Elsom
Ž. Elsom, D.M., 1989. Learn to live with lightning. New Scientist 122 1670, 54–58.
Lightning strike injuries
- Thayre
Ž. Thayre, K., 1995. Lightning strike injuries. Emergency Nurse 3 3, 16–19.
Lightning fatalities, injuries and damage reports in the United States
- E B Curran
- R L Holle
Curran, E.B., Holle, R.L., 1997. Lightning fatalities, injuries and damage reports in the United States, 1959–1994, NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS SR-193. NOAA Scientific Services Division, Fort Worth, Texas.
Physics of lightning phenomena
- Uman
Uman, M.A., 1992. Physics of lightning phenomena. In: Andrews, C.J., Cooper, M.A., Darveniza, M., Ž. Mackerras, D. Eds., Lightning Injuries: Electrical Medical, and Legal Aspects. CRC Press, London.
Treatment of lightning injury
- Cooper
Cooper, M.A., 1992. Treatment of lightning injury. In: Andrews, C.J., Cooper, M.A., Darveniza, M., Ž. Mackerras, D. Eds., Lightning Injuries: Electrical, Medical, and Legal Aspects. CRC Press, London, pp. 115–140.
Telephone-mediated lightning injury: an Australian survey
- Andrews
Lightning fatalities, injuries and damage reports in the United States, 1959–1994
- Curran
Distribution of lightning-caused casualties and damages since 1959 in the United States
- Holle
Protection from lightning
- Mackerras