Which, I believe, is going to be a major survival factor in the immediate future. As well as the reason that Jonah is going to have a lion wrapped around him for the next few hours (or whenever the storm stops).
A tree fell on my house today…only a little, though. Another fell in my driveway. I agree on staying in the house with the trees falling on it – still somewhat safer than out in the open with trees falling on you or being struck by lightning…
My uncle got struck by lightning two different times. The second time he was inside his garage. He was standing near a power outlet, and the lightning hit the pole in the yard, traveled through the power lines, shot out the outlet into his leg, and blew the end of his sock off.
I am queen of the near misses. I’ve had eight occasions where I’ve been within 100 feet or less from a strike; the only time I was hurt was the first one, when I was three years old (it struck a tree in the next yard over while I was leaning against a metal pole under a carport, watching the rain; I got a mark on my cheek and my shoulder, was knocked flat (by the vibrations, I think) and was partially deafened for a little while.) Other times have been three strikes to the roof of the house I grew up in (it set it on fire once but the rain put it out), one to the surrounding cinderblock wall of my workplace, one to a palm tree about 50 feet away while I was driving to work and two to the house I lived in before I moved where I am now (one of those was to a cottonwood tree out back, but it jumped from a limb to the nearest metal windowframe and killed all the electrical outlets on that side of the house. Expensive! Killed the tree too.) I have no clue why, but so far they’ve missed hitting me and I’m good with that.
You definitely have me beat. Only one I have was lightning struck a power pole about 50 feet from me as I was driving a forklift at a lumberyard. I remember thinking “okay, me and my massive metal-framed object are going to go inside now,” and I raced for the nearest door.
Our house is on a hilltop that’s the highest spot in our area. When we bought and remodeled it, we put lightning rods on the roof. We had to get a permit to do so, and our Building and Safety Dept. couldn’t understand why we wanted them! Our tax dollars at work.
You’d be surprised (and appalled) by how many homes don’t even have a ground rod for their electrical connection, much less lightning rods on the high points. Granted, in many parts of the country including where I live a lightning rod isn’t critical, but the lack of a good ground rod has led to many shocks and fires.
Even when you have a properly installed lightning rod, if its course runs anywhere near an electric circuit in the house, the voltage and current flux from the lightning running through the grounding wire can be so high that via induction it can create a similar-sized pulse of 10s of thousands of volts in the house’s wiring. And of course, the lightning rod on your house doesn’t help if it hits the power pole outside instead.
During Hurricane Irma, at my mothers house, four trees fell down, but none hit the house. One tree tried twice—it fell in one direction during the storm, then got moved and was pointing the other way when the storm was over. (We propped one back up and the others are wood chips by now.)
Batteries turn into bombs when you do that, even the really honkin’ big ones blow up when near a lightning strike. One day, mad science will focus on the important things like harnessing lightning instead of making more talking ducks.
i chose the house.
if i am to be crushed by a falling tree in the dark of the storm, let me sit in my comfy chair with a can of [brand name redacted] cola and face my doom like civilized gentry, not crouched behind a boulder sharing poor shelter with some storm frazzled racoon.
I can assure you that lightning does go through electric wiring, all the time, lightning rods or no. Think of how tall the high-tension lines are, and you’ll see why.
It’s kinda like he can see the red circles on the ground where the honkin’ big boss attacks are going to land.
More importantly, he can see where they’re not going to land.
Which, I believe, is going to be a major survival factor in the immediate future. As well as the reason that Jonah is going to have a lion wrapped around him for the next few hours (or whenever the storm stops).
A tree fell on my house today…only a little, though. Another fell in my driveway. I agree on staying in the house with the trees falling on it – still somewhat safer than out in the open with trees falling on you or being struck by lightning…
My uncle got struck by lightning two different times. The second time he was inside his garage. He was standing near a power outlet, and the lightning hit the pole in the yard, traveled through the power lines, shot out the outlet into his leg, and blew the end of his sock off.
PLEASE tell me you guys nicknamed him Uncle Lucky from then on…
Ah… would that be “Un Lucky” for short?
I am queen of the near misses. I’ve had eight occasions where I’ve been within 100 feet or less from a strike; the only time I was hurt was the first one, when I was three years old (it struck a tree in the next yard over while I was leaning against a metal pole under a carport, watching the rain; I got a mark on my cheek and my shoulder, was knocked flat (by the vibrations, I think) and was partially deafened for a little while.) Other times have been three strikes to the roof of the house I grew up in (it set it on fire once but the rain put it out), one to the surrounding cinderblock wall of my workplace, one to a palm tree about 50 feet away while I was driving to work and two to the house I lived in before I moved where I am now (one of those was to a cottonwood tree out back, but it jumped from a limb to the nearest metal windowframe and killed all the electrical outlets on that side of the house. Expensive! Killed the tree too.) I have no clue why, but so far they’ve missed hitting me and I’m good with that.
You definitely have me beat. Only one I have was lightning struck a power pole about 50 feet from me as I was driving a forklift at a lumberyard. I remember thinking “okay, me and my massive metal-framed object are going to go inside now,” and I raced for the nearest door.
Lightning is not supposed to go through electric wiring. Lightning rods a supposed to prevent exactly that.
Our house is on a hilltop that’s the highest spot in our area. When we bought and remodeled it, we put lightning rods on the roof. We had to get a permit to do so, and our Building and Safety Dept. couldn’t understand why we wanted them! Our tax dollars at work.
Lightning rods only work if you HAVE lightning rods.
You’d be surprised (and appalled) by how many homes don’t even have a ground rod for their electrical connection, much less lightning rods on the high points. Granted, in many parts of the country including where I live a lightning rod isn’t critical, but the lack of a good ground rod has led to many shocks and fires.
Even when you have a properly installed lightning rod, if its course runs anywhere near an electric circuit in the house, the voltage and current flux from the lightning running through the grounding wire can be so high that via induction it can create a similar-sized pulse of 10s of thousands of volts in the house’s wiring. And of course, the lightning rod on your house doesn’t help if it hits the power pole outside instead.
During Hurricane Irma, at my mothers house, four trees fell down, but none hit the house. One tree tried twice—it fell in one direction during the storm, then got moved and was pointing the other way when the storm was over. (We propped one back up and the others are wood chips by now.)
See, I feel like at this point you should invest in a lightning rod hooked up to a battery, save on electricity bills a little. XD
Dangit, that was @theysabet
Batteries turn into bombs when you do that, even the really honkin’ big ones blow up when near a lightning strike. One day, mad science will focus on the important things like harnessing lightning instead of making more talking ducks.
Well, there ARE good Mad scientists.
Good? Boasting about harnessing the lightnings practically begs for a round of mad laughter.
“KrakkaDOOM” is of course the best sound effect ever. Don Martin would be so proud.
Ah, yes… a favourite, I think, of Shaenon’s. It’s the same sound she used when Professor Madblood’s Arctic base blew up.
Maybe a little Walt Kelly, too.
i chose the house.
if i am to be crushed by a falling tree in the dark of the storm, let me sit in my comfy chair with a can of [brand name redacted] cola and face my doom like civilized gentry, not crouched behind a boulder sharing poor shelter with some storm frazzled racoon.
That brand would be… “Ellman’s?”
Benjamin Franklin would’ve saved a lot of time with Jonah on his side
Maybe this is the return of Tony and Mercutio.
I can assure you that lightning does go through electric wiring, all the time, lightning rods or no. Think of how tall the high-tension lines are, and you’ll see why.
That weather machine seems to be cranking it up to GEOSTORM levels.