Electricity + Control January 2018

EARTHING + LIGHTNING PROTECTION

Lightning Protection and Education at SA Schools is Critical Hannes Ackermann, DEHN Africa

It is a widely reported fact that lightning is the most consistent weather killer around the world, bringing potential death or serious injuries to people and animals, and destruction to property.

I t is also, in many parts of the world, a largely under-estimated phenomenon, whose effects are frequently under-reported. When we look at the annual number of deaths caused by lightning around the world, South Africa is generally regard- ed as being in the top three countries globally, topped only by America and India. However, when we consider that both of these countries have significantly bigger populations than South Africa does (South Africa – almost 57 million, US 324 million and India 1,3 billion [1] then something is out of kilter. It would seem that there are other variables at play, some of which are postulated as follows: The country’s overall high lightning flash density per square kilometre; South Africa’s relatively large rural population, whose members arguably do not have access to safe shelter in both work and home environments; and a lack of education around the dangers of light- ning, including certain lingering lightning myths. Lightning fallacies Some of these lightning fallacies include the belief that covering mirrors in the home during a light- ning storm will facilitate protection, and that plac- ing a tyre on the roof will help to deflect lightning. Another legend has it, incorrectly, that wearing thick rubber soles on your shoes will electrically isolate you from the ground and keep you safe. Similarly, you should not think that being in a car during a lightning storm will protect you because of the vehicle’s rubber tyres. In fact, the protection that you actually can get from a lightning storm if you are sitting inside your car is because you are seated inside a metal enclosure, which causes the effect of a Faraday cage (the electrical discharge stays on the outside of the vehicle). Extrapolating, then, it can be seen that riding a motorbike or scooter in a thunderstorm is clearly

unsafe – there is no metal cage, and the rubber tyres are not themselves a protection. Perhaps one of the most dangerous local stories around lightning is the belief that there exists both ‘nat- ural’ and ‘man-made’ lightning, and that the latter can be controlled at will by some people as a type of supernatural weapon, while the former is not deadly. Fatalities Against this background of a need for education and an abundance of falsehoods, we see media reports, far too often, on the tragic death of chil- dren due to lightning strikes. For example, in Oc- tober 2017, two children were struck by lightning – fatally – in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal while walking to school. In Gauteng in 2013, during the same week in February, four children in Soweto were struck by lightning while walking to school, of whom one later died in hospital, and another nine in Johan- nesburg were struck while trying to pull the covers over their school’s cricket pitch when the weather interrupted their game. Of these latter nine boys, two would certainly have died had paramedics not resuscitated them from cardiac arrest. The boys who were upright during the lightning strike were more badly injured than the ones who were bend- ing over at the time of the strike. These examples are just some of the headlines showcasing the deaths of schoolchildren in South Africa due to lightning strikes. There is an urgent need in South Africa for education around lightning safety, and that beginning with our children is a noble and yet practical start to further community empowerment. DEHN Africa has previously carried out light- ning protection installations in Uganda, to excel- lent effect, and the company proposes carrying out projects at two schools in South Africa during

Take Note!

There is a lack of edu- cation and many myths around lightning and the dangers thereof. There are far too many fatalities that occur as a result of lightning strikes. Save a life by sharing the valuable information in this article with schools, teachers, students, scholars, businesses – and everyone who may be at risk.

1

2

3

It’s time to dispel the myths and look at the science. Lightning is a largely under-estimated phenomenon.

Electricity + Control

JANUARY 2018

27