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Lightning Safety Tips
Learn what steps you should take during a lightning storm.
- PLAN in advance your evacuation and safety measures. When you first see lightning or hear thunder, activate your emergency plan. Now is the time to go to a building or a vehicle. Lightning often precedes rain, so don't wait for the rain to begin before suspending activities.
- If OUTDOORS Avoid water. Avoid the high ground. Avoid open spaces. Avoid all metal objects including electric wires, fences, machinery, motors, power tools, etc. Unsafe places include underneath canopies, small picnic or rain shelters, or near trees. Where possible, find shelter in a substantial building or in a fully enclosed metal vehicle such as a car, truck, or a van with the windows completely shut. If lightning is striking nearby when you are outside, you should:
- Crouch down. Put your feet together, and place your hands over your ears to minimize hearing damage from the sound of thunder.
- Avoid proximity (minimum of 15 ft) to other people.
- IF INDOORS Avoid water. Stay away from doors and windows. Do not use the telephone. Take off head sets. Turn off, unplug, and stay away from appliances, computers, power tools, & TV sets. Lightning may strike exterior electric and phone lines, inducing shocks to inside equipment.
- SUSPEND ACTIVITIES for 30 minutes after the last observed lightning or thunder.
- INJURED PERSONS do not carry an electrical charge and can be handled safely. Apply First Aid procedures to a lightning victim if you are qualified to do so. Call 911 or send for help immediately.
Here are some informative Internet sites that will provide you with further helpful information on lightning safety:
1. Lightning Protection Institute: More safety tips and information on lightning safety; special tips for children.
2. FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency: Find out the signs of an impending lightning storm; plus more safety tips.
Here are some informative books to read that deal with lightning safety. Use Amazon.com's secure server to order:
 Wild Weather: Lightning! (Hello Reader! Science Level 4): - Lorraine Jean Hopping, Jody Wheeler (Illustrator). This book is the perfect reading level for ages 4 through 8. The easy-to-read style and interesting lightning facts make this book a wonderful choice to introduce children to lightning's enormous power. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll (Lrfo) : - Franklyn Mansfield Branley, True Kelley (Illustrator). Here's another book that's perfect for children with reading levels 4 through 8. Learn the how, what, when, & why's of lightning. Buy it NOW through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
Reprinted with permission from the National Lightning Safety Institute. The safety information contained on these pages is provided as a courtesy to My ParenTime's visitors. My ParenTime makes no representations or guarantees concerning the effectiveness of such information. In no event shall My ParenTime be held liable for any failure of such safety information.
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