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Lightning Strikes

I know of a couple of folks who have died after being struck by lightning. Until reading this news story I did not pause to think it was odd that I would in the recent past hear of such deaths. Both times, I had dismissed it as a freak accident and thought only for second how odd that it would happen to two people I know both living in the same town.

Most human deaths in thunderstorms are preventable but almost no buildings have lightning rods to protect their inhabitants, Srivastava said. Forecasting is also tricky and warning people of approaching storms is difficult. Indian scientists recently developed a mobile app that seeks to provide real-time warnings about imminent strikes and precautions to be taken. 

But this has limited use in a country where only half the population has access to a smartphone and even fewer in rural areas where strikes are more common. Many people are also unaware of the dangers and what to do – like not sheltering under a tree and avoiding open areas in a thunderstorm.

Used to be that thunderstorms inspired awe and poetry. That was then and this is now. 

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