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Items in the home, both electrical and nonelectrical, will sustain significant damage from a direct lightning strike. In the first case, the house is hit directly by lightning, which is extremely rare. Usually, one of two things will happen to electronics when lightning strikes.
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If you watch a lightning flash video on slow-mo, you’ll notice that the ground also sends a flash of light to meet the clouds halfway. The result is clouds begin to charge up like huge batteries in the sky, with the upper part becoming more positively charged and the lower part more negatively charged. In this case, the ground’s positive energy attracts the negative energy of lightning. When two objects have opposing charges, they attract each other, while those with the same charge repel one another. The lower part of the cloud receives a negative charge following the “opposites attract” rule. The majority of lightning bolts are negative strikes. The cloud is divided into positive (+) and negative (-) charges. Millions of water molecules and ice crystals make up storm clouds, which start moving slowly but accelerate as they rub against one another.Īs ice crystals crash into each other, they exchange electrons. In the most common example, atmospheric moisture builds up to create clouds as part of the water cycle. As a result of such conditions, particles like sand, fumes, and ash can become electrically charged, causing atmospheric conditions similar to thunderstorms. Lightning can strike in sandstorms, wildfires, and eruptions of volcanoes.
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Although the research into this powerful force of nature is ongoing, here’s what we know so far.
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Scientists have some plausible theories about what triggers flashes of lightning. James had owned a drywall business for decades while his wife worked as a teacher, according to one of their daughters-in-law, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her privacy.What Gives Lightning Its Zap – Facts about Lightning Donna Mueller, 75, and her husband, James Mueller, 76, had been high school sweethearts before marrying. Brooks Lambertson, a vice president for City National Bank, was in Washington, D.C., on business when he was hit by lightning Thursday night in Lafayette Park, the bank said in a statement Saturday.Ī husband and wife from Wisconsin celebrating their 56th wedding anniversary were also struck by lightning and died. That’s the side her bag was on, carrying the iPad she used to sign people up for refugee donations.Ī 29-year-old Los Angeles bank executive was one of three victims killed, his employer confirmed. The lightning caused severe burns along the left side of her body and arm, her family said. Article contentĮscudero-Kontostathis was one of four people struck and the only person to survive the bolt in Lafayette Park, located directly outside the White House complex. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. So while Amber waited for her husband to pick her up for a celebratory dinner, she sought shelter once again from the same tree, huddling with three others under its outstretched branches, according to her family and authorities. That day happened to be her 28th birthday, her family said.
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