Prevention

The following tips may help you avoid being struck by lightning. Lightning may occur well in front of or behind a thunderstorm.

• Avoid being outside in open spaces during thunderstorms. If you hear thunder, you are in range for a lightning strike. You need to seek shelter immediately if you are outside. Lightning can travel 10-12 miles ahead of a storm and seem to come out of a clear blue sky.
  
  
• Take cover from storms, avoiding the highest elevation areas and tall objects.
  
  
• Do not carry or hold tall metal objects during thunderstorms. Drop any golf clubs, fishing poles, or baseball bats. Remove metal objects such as a baseball helmet.
  
  
• If lightning has struck the immediate area, remember that lightning can strike the same place twice.
  
  
• If you cannot find shelter, crouch down in a catcher's stance. Put your hands on your knees or place them over your ears to protect against hearing damage from thunder. If other people are with you, stay 15 feet apart.
  
  
• A fully enclosed metal vehicle such as a car or school bus can be a good shelter. Close all windows and do not touch anything metal connected to the vehicle. A golf cart is not a suitable shelter. Heavy equipment operators may stay inside the machine's closed canopy, but do not step out to seek shelter.
  
  
• Even if you are inside a building, close all windows and stay away from them. Do not use the land-line telephone or electrical appliances including computers. Lightning may strike outside lines and travel inside.
  
  
• Wait at least 30 minutes after the last observed lightning strike or thunder before you venture outside your sheltered area.
  
  
• The simple safety slogan of the National Lightning Safety Institute is this: If you can see it (lightning), flee it (take shelter). If you can hear it (thunder), clear it (stop your activities).