WFTX — Lightning can be beautiful but it can also be destructive. It strikes somewhere on Earth 8 million times each day or 100 times every second. And when it comes to weather-related fatalities, it's one of the leading causes of death. According to the National Weather Service, over the past 10 years. this country has averaged 27 lightning fatalities each year.
The odds of getting struck in any given year in the US are about 1 in a million. In your lifetime, 1 in 15,000. When you compare those odds to winning Power Ball or Mega Millions, lightning is a threat you want to take very seriously.
Here in Florida, we see more lightning related deaths than any other state even though Oklahoma now has more lightning strikes... that's according to a Finnish environmental monitoring company called Vaisala. Just this past July, 2 deaths occurred right here... one on Marco Island & another on Sanibel.
And these stats may not surprise you... most fatalities are men & out of those, most are young & white. They tend to spend more time outdoors doing leisure or work activities.
To help beat the odds, just use a little common sense... watch the sky for signs, be informed about the forecast, get inside when you start to see lightning or hear thunder. Don't take chances when it comes to such a deadly force of nature
