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Lightning

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Harold in CR:
I know this thread is old but I think my story is relevant.  I believe it backs up dnix's post, above. If deemed not relevant, move it to where you want it, or not.

  Wife nearly died Sunday Night

 It was a typical Rainy season night. Medium density rain falling,
little bit of wind, and the sound of thunder in the distance. Wife
was preparing clothes to be ironed.

 Instead, she decided to make hot chocolate for us. I had already
disconnected all the electronics from the outlets, computer, modem,
UPS, television, and amplifers from the external antenna, outside.

Lights were blinking, as usual, and we were as content as possible.
I was sitting in my favorite chair at the computer desk, when, SNAP
lightning hit something, DAMN close. Wife yelped, as usual, and I
turned and looked at her. She was standing by the stack of clothes piled
on a bar stool type chair I had built, and the house was filling with
the odor of burnt plastic and ozone. I grabbed a flashlight and started
searching for smoke or fire. Wife was kinda slumped on the stack of clothes
and seemed fine, so, I went out the back door and looked toward the shop.
All was dark, no fire. Came back in the house and wife was slumping more toward
the floor and had moved about 6 feet to another chair, presumably to sit in.
She was making weird sounds and having trouble breathing. Then, she slid down toward
the floor and caught her chin on the chair and was choking. I grabbed her and
it was like trying to move a sack of water. Limp as could be. She had 1 foot caught
in the toe kick of a portable island cabinet I built, and I had quite a time getting
it loose.

 Finally, I had her propped against the base cabinets in the kitchen and sitting on
the floor.She had difficulty breathing and heart was beating probably just below fibrillation.
I ran to check more areas as the odor was very strong and I suspected to find fire, somewhere.
Ran back to check on wife and she was in dire straits. I moved/dragged her into the living room
and managed to get her on the sofa.She only weighs 95 pounds, but, being limp, felt like 500
pounds. Went to the phone to call for help and, of course, it was dead. Went back and wife was breathing a little
easier,and heart rate was down some. She has a valve problem as it is.

 After a bit she was not comfortable, so, wanted to get on her rocking chair. Don't think THAT wasn't a fun deal.
Anyway, an hour or so later, I talked her into laying on the bed, to reduce pressure from sitting. She was hurting
badly and arms and legs wouldn't work. So, I got her up and dragged her into the bedroom and onto the bed.

 Took a final look all around, and, finding NO smoke, sat down to catch my breath. Kept checking on her throughout
the night and she is still recovering. Turns out, she was in the fridge and had reached out to close the door when
she was zapped by the lightning strike. This is in the middle of the house, roughly. She said yesterday, she was lifted
off the floor and saw an arc oflightning jump between her knees. There is no sign of burning
anywhere on her. She is mostly fine, just weak as water.

 Yesterday, I went outside and checked all the wires, especially the phone line. Everything is fine. What the hell ??
Happened to glance over at the TV antenna, and could not make out the co/ax going from the metal pole to the house.
Went and took a better look, and, the section of co/ax, about 6' long, was laying on the ground. Lightning had hit it somethere
and burned it off at the pole and at the roofline of the house.We just put a new metal roof on this summer. There is a hole
in the metal roof that I could probably stick a pencil through, and the section of cable was burned in 3 areas. I went in the house
and pulled the pre amp out from behind the brand new TV, and saw soot on the table/shelf. The pre amp was burned up inside.

 Now, all you engineers and such, how the hell did lightning get from there, to about 18' away with no cable in the area, and strike the wife ???
I'm thinking it was a big static charge, but, why from the fridge and to her through the cement/ceramic tile floor ??
 

Mary B:
Jumped to the house electrical ground and to the fridge... I repaired electronics for 30+ years and saw lighting do a lot of weird things. Worst was a hit on a TV antenna that was 12 feet above a bathroom. The arc went through the roof to the copper pipes in the bathroom and the water in them flashed to steam and blew the pipes... the coax coming down the wall was burned off at every staple holding it on the wall and the siding was burned around the staples. Every last piece of electrical or electronic gear in the house was fried and they had to replumb, rewire, and all new drywall from the third floor water leak... When the electricians went to pull the 14-2 out of the walls it was burnt off in multiple spots. They got lucky and no house fore from it! Had to reroof the house too because it blew the shingles off the side the coax went down. I used to have pictures of that hung up in the shop as a warning to people to disconnect EVERYTHING electrical during thunderstorms, including appliances.

PS: Pull the outlet cover off that the preamp would have been plugged into and make sure nothing in that socket shows arcing. If it does I would check all the outlets in the house for signs of an arc.

Harold in CR:

 Mary, everything in the house was unplugged except the fridge and stove. Amps were not plugged into the outlets, nothing was except the fridge and stove.

 Wife said both feet were raised off the floor and there was no sign of anything on her being burned or marked. Said she felt fine above her knees except fast heart rate and terrible time breathing.

 I have checked the outlet from the fridge. Nothing showing up ?

george65:

I hope you wife is OK. That must have been terrifying.  I notice you make no mention of having her checked out by a doctor, Hope you did that.
I remember my wife taking a bad epileptic fit just after we were married. I had a cousin that used to take them so I had seen them plenty of times before but to wake up next to your wife foaming at the mouth and shaking like she is going to shake the bed frame apart was a horror that will always stay with me. She never had them before so was not at all expected and took a few moments at 3am to figure out what was going on.

I too used to think that tall things attracted lightning but there are enough Vids on YT of lightning to show that's not always true and that lightening can come from the ground UP!

I was at my fathers place about a year ago now in his big metal shed watching a severe thunderstorm roll over. Tt one point I looked up and could see a swirling like a cyclone eye right over the top of us. That was a new experience.  At about the same time, there was this pink flash behind and to the side of us I just caught out the corner of my eye and we felt the charge go right through us from head to toe. It wasn't anything severe but I think the humidity and spray in the air conducted some of the power.  I was filming on my go pro at the time and it switched itself straight off.
The strike was close because we pretty much heard the bang before we saw the flash.  The sound was incredible even to my father who is partially deaf.

We had a lot of electricals and electronics running at the time but didn't have any problem what so ever. Lucky I guess.

I went looking around the next day for where the strike hit but couldn't find anything.  Might have hit the water on the dam for all I know or the trees but I saw the flash, what I did, at ground level.
My father was leaning on a pole in the shed just before and I made him come sit in a chair I put in the middle of the shed as far away from anything as possible.  There are 80Ft high trees all around but I knew that was no guarantee of safety.

It's a long time since I have been scared of a storm but I don't mind admitting I was getting pretty edgy that day.  Of course an hour later the rain and cloud was gone, the sun came out and it was a lovely clean, clear afternoon.
Amazing how weather can turn so fast.

Mary B:
That lightning strike just traversed thousands of feet of open air. Sure you unplugged BUT that cord was laying how far from the outlet? The energy from the strike could have jumped from the unplugged cord to the house electrical system. Also the concrete itself can act as a ground system and it will rise in voltage during a strike, it could have been conducted that way also. The outlet that needs checking is where the TV preamp plugs in to make sure the strike didn't jump to it.

I have a very extensive ground system with my ham radio stuff including EMP grade lightning suppressors on every antenna cable entering the house(there are a half dozen!) and the rotor cables are also grounded outside before entering with the same quality equipment. I have still watched strike energy jump from disconnected cables to the ground bar I lay them on during storms! 


--- Quote from: Harold in CR on October 18, 2016, 11:58:13 PM ---
 Mary, everything in the house was unplugged except the fridge and stove. Amps were not plugged into the outlets, nothing was except the fridge and stove.

 Wife said both feet were raised off the floor and there was no sign of anything on her being burned or marked. Said she felt fine above her knees except fast heart rate and terrible time breathing.

 I have checked the outlet from the fridge. Nothing showing up ?

--- End quote ---

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