What to do in a lightning storm

Australian Community Media

It’s time to debunk the myths around lightning storm safety. The moment you hear thunder or see lightning you should be heading inside, says lightning risk mitigation expert, Grant Kirkby aka Lightningman.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:06 If you can see lightning or you can hear thunder, you're already in danger.

00:10 [Music]

00:18 If you're placing yourself next to a larger object,

00:22 you're subjecting yourself to risk posed by what we call side flash,

00:26 where lightning current will flash off the tree over to some adjacent object.

00:31 [Music]

00:45 Holding any corded power tool or telephone radio receiver,

00:52 if there's an external antenna, not a good idea during a thunderstorm.

00:57 [Music]

01:00 In 99.99%, a vehicle would offer very good safe shoulder.

01:06 A conductor, like a metal roof for example,

01:09 the lightning current won't travel through the metal,

01:12 it will travel over the surface of the metal,

01:14 what we call the high frequency skin effect.

01:16 [Music]

01:21 It's a bit different for big dump trucks and big rubber-tyred.

01:26 The current going through, earthing out through the tyre,

01:30 can cause what we call a pyrolysis,

01:32 which is where the internal of the tyre starts to burst and burn from the inside out.

01:39 [Music]

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