contrary to popular belief lightning
strikes aren't always a death sentence
in fact about 90% of people in the u.s.
who are struck actually survive still
victims rarely walk away unscathed and
the damage can be permanent
lightning triggers 75,000 forest fires
in the u.s. each year and can split
entire trees down the middle in a split
second
so it's frightening to imagine what it
does inside a human body the good news
is that you won't get cooked Wiley
coyote style but it can still do damage
for starters lightning carries between 1
to 10 billion joules of energy enough to
power a 100 watt bulb for at least three
months when that amount of electricity
enters your body its short circuits the
small electrical signals that run your
heart lungs and nervous system this can
lead to cardiac arrest seizures brain
injury spinal cord damage and even
amnesia but electricity isn't your only
problem lightning is blisteringly hot in
under a second it can heat the
surrounding air to temperatures 5 times
hotter than the sun's surface this
causes a rapid expansion of air which
leads to a shock wave that we hear as
thunder
it has been calculated that someone
standing within 30 feet of a lightning
strike point can experience a blast wave
whiffle into a 5 kilogram TNT bomb the
intense heat light and electricity can
also damage your eyes in fact it can
bore holes in your retina and cause
cataracts within days or weeks other
side effects of lightning can include
impotence and Men and overall decreased
libido that's just what happens on the
inside as the lightning moves toward the
surface it can force red blood cells out
of your capillaries into your epidermis
like a bruise these intricate designs
are called Lichtenberg figures these
intense temperatures can also heat up
any metal you might be wearing causing
third-degree burns and can also rapidly
vaporize the rainwater or sweat on your
skin the resulting steam explosion may
blow off your clothes and shoes leaving
you nearly naked on average 47 people in
the US are killed by lightning each year
so you might be wondering how do I make
sure I'm not that guy
for starters check weather forecasts
ahead of time and stay indoors during a
storm but if you're stuck outside avoid
isolated trees poles and open fields and
run as fast as you can toward safety
you're best off in a developed building
or a hard-topped metal vehicle so stay
calm and just remember when Thunder
roars go indoors
you