According to experts, this is the lowest figure for the entire period of recording such incidents.
Sixteen Americans were killed by lightning strikes last year. The US National Weather Service reported this on Tuesday, emphasizing that this figure is the lowest since 1940, when such deaths began to be recorded at the federal level.
As weather service spokesman John Jensenius noted in a statement, “Over the past decade, lightning has struck an average of 27 residents per year.” At the same time, in the 1940s there were several hundred people. In 1943 alone, 432 Americans died.
In 2001, 55 people became victims of lightning strikes - the weather service began an active campaign to explain preventive protection measures. In particular, the call “when you hear thunder, run into the house” was constantly heard on television and radio.
Improved medical care and a significant decline in the rural population also contributed to the decline in lightning-related deaths, Jensenius said. “Defibrillators have helped save many lives,” a weather service spokesman said, adding that 90% of those struck by lightning now survive. As for rural residents, he continued, in the 1940s, “many more farmers worked in the fields than now,” so the risk of defeat was higher.
Most of the victims are men
About 25 million electrical discharges are recorded annually over the entire territory of the country. The largest number - about 3.5 thousand per day - is over the state of Florida. In 2017, five people died in Florida, three in Alabama, two each in Colorado, Texas and North Carolina, and one each in Ohio and Puerto Rico. Of these, 15 were men, Jensenius noted. According to the weather service, from 2006 to 2016, the share of the stronger sex in the total number of lightning victims averaged 79%.
The fact that lightning strikes mainly men in the United States has been noted previously. Thus, experts from the private meteorological company AccuWeather, based in Pennsylvania, calculated that from 1995 to 2008, 648 people died for this reason in the country, of which 82% were men. From 1959 to 1999, their share of the total death toll was 84%.
Experts from the National Weather Service tend to attribute this trend to the behavior of men: they tend to behave more recklessly and risk their own lives more often.
More details on TASS:
http://tass.ru/proisshestviya/4855990
February
2010
True:
One person died and three were injured by lightning strike
As reported by RIA Novosti on July 28, 2007. One person died and three were injured on Saturday from a lightning strike in the Podolsk region. The tragedy occurred on the Chernyakhovskaya platform. A 50-year-old man died on the spot from a lightning strike, and a 15-year-old girl is in intensive care. Two more people were also taken to hospital with neurological reactions."
Lightning strike fires
07/23/07 Fires caused by lightning. In the Kirovsky district of Novosibirsk, a two-story house caught fire. The fire destroyed the roof and the attic collapsed. The roof of the building was struck by lightning. And in the Kalininsky district, a completely private house is protected from a thunderstorm.
In the Danilovsky district, 100 hectares of rye burned from a lightning strike.
On July 21, 2008, 100 hectares of rye burned in the Danilovsky district from a lightning strike. The Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Volgograd Region reported this to the Height 102 news agency today. The incident occurred 10 km from the Dorozhkin village. The lightning strike occurred on the grain field of 000 "Dom Invest Agro". There are no casualties among the people.
In the Sverdlovsk region, several buildings burned down from lightning strikes.
08/19/08 Sysert, Sverdlovsk region, in the Middle Urals, lightning discharges caused two serious fires. As the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Sverdlovsk Region reported to New Region, the day before a powerful thunderstorm occurred in the Sysert urban district. At eleven o'clock in the evening, after a lightning strike in the village of Pervomaisky, two private bathhouses and a wooden garage, located on Vostochnaya Street, 14, burned to the ground on an area of 48 square meters. There were no casualties. The estimated damage was 30 thousand rubles.
Tu-154 crashed due to thunderstorm
On August 22, 2006, a Pulkovo Airlines Tu-154 plane was struck by lightning, after which it crashed. ITAR-TASS was informed about this by the head of the Information Department of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Irina Andrianova. “The airliner entered a thunderstorm front and was then struck by lightning and, obviously, this was the cause of the plane crash,” she said. According to eyewitnesses, the thunderstorm was very strong before the disaster. Among the passengers of the TU-154 that crashed were foreigners, including residents of Holland, the acting commander said. Head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for St. Petersburg Leonid Belyaev.
Statistics on the consequences of a lightning strike
February
2010
Myth: Lightning very rarely strikes bodies of water.
True: Lightning can strike anywhere on earth, including water!
Every year, people receive electrical burns while in water when lightning strikes the surface of the reservoir.
There have been cases when lightning struck directly into boats with fishermen, and the development of such a plot was completely unpredictable and random. A boat on the surface of the water does not attract lightning! But fishing rods with metal inserts can theoretically be conductors of electric current, and the charge can transfer to a person, but this is possible in the immediate vicinity of the place where lightning hits the water and the boat with the fisherman. Therefore, do not tempt fate and do not go swimming or fishing during a thunderstorm.
It is known that water is a good conductor. When lightning strikes a body of water, the electric charge spreads away from the point of impact along the surface of the water, and not into the depths of the body of water. Therefore, people on the surface may be shocked by electric shock.
There is an opinion that during thunderstorms a lot of fish die in the seas and lakes. But in fact, during bad weather, most of the fish go to the depths to wait out the bad weather there. Being at a sufficient depth, the fish is protected from electric shock. Therefore, in fact, a negligible number of fish die from lightning strikes in the water.
Lightning chooses an object that rises above the surface of the sea and hits whoever is there. If someone is swimming at this time, it can hit that person or people in the sea. And since water is a good conductor of electricity, the blow will be very strong, until the end.
There will be local heating at the impact site and water boiling away. If you are lucky enough to be nearby, take a spoon and start eating your fish soup, and you don’t need to add salt - the fish soup in the sea is already salted!
The electric charge of lightning, hitting the water, spreads across the surface of the water. This means that only those organisms that swim near the surface are affected; deep-seated living creatures are not affected. The most dangerous place is within a radius of 30 meters from a lightning strike, and salt water conducts electricity better than fresh water. Well, what is above the surface of the water is definitely affected.
Home page Statistics on the consequences of a lightning strike
This year, the American beach Venice beach ranked 15th in the world in terms of the number of victims killed during a thunderstorm; Thunderstorms kill five people every year in the UK
Fortunately this is a very rare species of death, and you never know where and when it will happen - just an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances. Last Sunday on the beach Venicebeach V Los Angeles from a lightning strike a twenty-year-old boy died, about a dozen more people are in critical condition. Forecasters from the National Weather Research Center confirmed that the beach area was hit by two lightning strikes at 2 p.m., causing power lines to be damaged and two fires to occur.
According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), this is the 15th death of this kind in the United States over the past year. However, there is a noticeable gradual decline in the number victims over the past decade. Perhaps because far fewer people began to work outdoors, and also began to take safety regulations more seriously. In 2006, 48 people died during a thunderstorm, and by 2014 the number of victims had dropped to 35.
Men are predominantly victims of adverse weather conditions. Since 2006, 223 men and 53 women have died. 13 percent of accidents occurred on the beach.
Almost two-thirds of all victims were people who spent time outdoors playing frisbee or volleyball on the beach or in the park. It is commonly believed that the main victims of bad weather are golfers, but if you look at the numbers provided by statisticians, this is not the case. Between 2006 and 2013, there were three times as many fishermen killed as golfers. (One of the victims last Sunday was a 57-year-old man playing golf 22 miles outside Los Angeles. He was hospitalized. Doctors say his condition has already stabilized.)
Over the past eight years in the US 30 deaths occurred among anglers, 16 died while summer camping, and 14 boaters died from lightning strikes. 12 people died during outdoor sporting events and 8 golfers. 12 people died while working in their own gardens and 14 were injured on farms and ranches.
Summer is the most dangerous time. More than 70% accidents occurs in June, July and August. Most often on Saturday and Sunday.
What happened on Sunday at Venice beach is a typical summer incident. NOAA estimates that each of us has a 1 in 12,000 chance of being struck by lightning.
Due to the fact that the population density and territory of Great Britain is much smaller than in the United States, fewer people die in this country during thunderstorms. According to the Torro Center for Tornado and Storm Research, between 30 and 60 people are struck by lightning each year. The average number of deaths is five. Mostly the strongest thunderstorms pass through the southeastern part of the country due to the warmest and most humid climate. Eastern England is highly susceptible to thunderstorms, while north-west Scotland is less so.
From plane crashes to lightning, here are the 25 things that are statistically the most common cause of death:
25. Fireworks
In the United States, approximately 10,000 people go to the emergency room for fireworks-related injuries. Chance of dying from fireworks: 1 in 615,448.
24. Tsunami
Naturally, the risk of dying from a tsunami greatly depends on where you live, but from a statistical point of view, the chance is 1 in 500,000.
23. Asteroid Impact
In the past, it was believed that the chance of death from an asteroid collision was about 1 in 20,000. Now, thanks to the development of science, we have learned that the chance is actually 1 in 500,000. Although even this probability is quite high.
22. Dog attack
The chance of being torn apart by man's best friend is 1 in 147,717.
21. Earthquake
Again, living in an area with high tectonic activity will significantly increase your risk. However, overall, the chance of dying from an earthquake is 1 in 131,890.
20. Poisonous bite
At a 1 in 100,000 chance, the risk of dying from a bee sting is twice the chance of dying from a dog sting.
19. Lightning
Every year around the world, about a quarter of a million people are struck by lightning. The odds of death from such an event are 1 in 83,930.
18. Tornado
Living in the US or India increases the chance of death, but overall it is about 1 in 60,000.
17. Death penalty
Yes, if you do not kill or commit high treason, the chance of death under such circumstances will greatly decrease, especially if you do not live in China, North Korea, Yemen, Iran or the USA, then you will not face the death penalty. Still, the chance is 1 in 58,618.
16. Flood
Floods, being one of the most common and dangerous natural disasters, claim more lives annually than any other disaster on this list. Chance of death: 1 in 30,000.
15. Plane crash
Flying in airplanes is much (as you will notice later, hundreds of times) safer than traveling in a car. The chance of death is 1 in 20,000.
14. Death by drowning
According to the World Health Organization, drowning is the third most common accidental death. Thus, hundreds of thousands of people die every year. Chance: 1 in 8,942.
13. Electric shock
When lightning deaths and capital punishments are included, electrocution causes about 1,000 deaths per year in the United States. Of these deaths, the most common are those related to work safety. Chance of death: 1 in 5,000.
12. Bicycle
Typically, when someone dies while riding a bicycle, the death is caused by a motorist. The chance is 1 in 4,717.
11. Forces of nature
This item includes lightning, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and any other natural disasters. Curious to know what is the chance that you will die as a result of Mother Nature's wrath? 1 to 3,357.
10. Fire or smoke
Approximately 50 to 80 percent of fire-related deaths are due to smoke inhalation rather than burns, but overall, fires claim thousands of lives each year in the United States alone. Chance of dying: 1 in 1,116.
9. Death from a gunshot wound
Living in the United States, Guatemala, Brazil or South Africa increases the chances of death in such circumstances, but overall the chance is 1 in 325.
8. Fall
If this seems harmless to you, you must be young. It is the leading cause of death among the world's elderly population. Chance: 1 in 246.
7. Intentionally harming yourself
Every 40 seconds, someone in the world commits suicide and every year about 1 million people die from it. Chance: 1 in 121.
6. Car accident
It's the most dangerous thing we do on a regular basis, and car accidents kill nearly 50,000 Americans every year. Chance of dying: 1 in 100.
5. Accidental injury
This collective category is responsible for approximately 30 million emergency room visits each year, and approximately 100,000 people die as a result of such circumstances each year. Chance: 1 in 36.
4. Stroke
For people living in developed countries, one of the four remaining points is what will ultimately kill them. The chance of dying from a stroke is 1 in 23.
3. Cancer
If a person lives long enough, cancer becomes almost as inevitable as death and taxes. Chance: 1 in 7.
2. Heart disease
Many experts believe that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world. Chance of dying: 1 in 5.
1. Hayflick limit 
Even if we assume that a person will not get sick and will not die a violent death, as it turns out, our cells can divide a limited number of times, after which they will disintegrate in any case. This amount is known as the Hayflick limit. Although modern research in genetics can extend this process, some estimates suggest that the current maximum human lifespan is 125 years.
Not every person manages to stay alive and healthy after an encounter with lightning. Thus, on the night of June 22, about 45 people died during a thunderstorm in the Indian state of Bihar. And all over the world, from 6 to 24 thousand people die every year from lightning strikes. They used to say: "Thunder me!" - and considered death from a lightning strike to be God's punishment...
"Lightning" curse
There have been many episodes when lightning seems to specifically “target” certain people and does not touch those who are next to them. One such strange incident occurred in Japan. A group of schoolchildren and their teacher went on a hike in a mountainous area. To avoid getting lost, everyone held on to one rope. A thunderstorm began and lightning struck the rope. Everyone who held onto it in the even order died, everyone who was in the odd order remained alive...
The most famous victim of lightning was the American Roy Sullivan, who even got into the Guinness Book of Records - he was struck by lightning seven times! Moreover, according to statistics, the chances of being struck by lightning during the life of one person are one in three thousand... Despite this, he remained alive every time.
Sullivan committed suicide. Before they had time to bury him, a thunderstorm broke out over the cemetery and another bolt of lightning literally split the tombstone over Sullivan’s grave in half...
Even more mysterious, perhaps, is the story of the Bulgarian Marta Maikia. Her first husband was killed by lightning two months after the wedding, the second - during his honeymoon. The woman fell into a state of deep depression and went to Germany for treatment... There she began an affair with a psychotherapist. They agreed to get married. When the groom was heading to his bride in Bulgaria, he was caught by a thunderstorm on the way. Lightning pierced the roof of the car and hit the doctor, who died on the spot... Martha remained single, she no longer tried to get married.
Miraculous Rescue
It happens, on the contrary, that a person, against all odds, survives a fatal discharge. Englishman Darren Milne and his wife went for a walk in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Suddenly a strong wind rose and hail began to fall. Milne heard a strange crunching sound and lost consciousness... When the man woke up, he was covered in blood, his clothes were torn, his sneakers were lying on the ground at a distance of several meters, and there was a smell of burning flesh in the air... As it turned out later, lightning completely burned the hair on Milne’s head and left it terrible scars on the body. But he survived, which surprised the doctors: they considered that the chances of survival from a discharge of such force were zero...
However, cases of survival after being struck by lightning are not so rare. Thus, one person’s copper coins melted into a lump in his trouser pocket due to the discharge. Another had a gold tooth melt in his mouth. The third sweat boiled on his body, and he was enveloped in a cloud of steam... But none of them were seriously injured.
Madness and a mysterious gift
Nevertheless, one of the consequences of a lightning discharge passing through the human body may be strange behavior. The American doctor Handler, who had to deal with such patients, recalled that one of them fell into childhood after a lightning strike, and the other began to have memory problems...
There are cases when the “struck” acquire unusual abilities. Thus, the Pakistani peasant Naftula Muhammad, after being struck by lightning, suddenly spoke Japanese. Even intelligence officers became interested in him, believing that this man might turn out to be a foreign spy. But it turned out that the man had never been to Japan and did not even know how to read and write...
Some researchers believe that electrical discharge can have a certain effect on the brain centers, in particular awakening genetic memory. It is possible that some distant ancestor of the Pakistani lived in Japan. Or if we take into account the theory of reincarnation, this person somehow remembered one of his past lives...
There are also many cases where, having been struck by lightning or electricity, people subsequently discovered so-called paranormal abilities in themselves - they began to read other people's thoughts, predict the future, see the internal organs of others and heal diseases.
There is also such a hypothesis: lightning “selects” as its victims precisely those people who from birth have some kind of gift, but it is in a “dormant” state. And some are purposefully killed - maybe for their sins, or maybe for other reasons. It is unlikely that we will ever understand the plans of higher powers...