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The Safety improvements for our

Government
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Table of Contents
Figures ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Problems ........................................................................................................................................ 3
The unknown dangers of lightning.............................................................................................. 3
Safety not being visible ............................................................................................................... 3
Myths being available ................................................................................................................. 4
Effects on Humans ...................................................................................................................... 4
Dangers not visible ...................................................................................................................... 5
Solutions ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Current Attempts ......................................................................................................................... 5
Website changes .......................................................................................................................... 6
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 76
References ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Figures
Figure 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 6
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Abstract
Every year the United States have has around 100,000 thunderstorms each year, however only
around 10% of them reach a severe degree. Thunderstorms can occur anytime in a year but are
more frequent in the summer and spring season, which makes them one of the most common
storms. Just in the US there are an estimated 93 deaths and 300 injuries from just thunderstorms
alone which is more than tornadoes, and if you also count the floods that the rainfall can cause
the number of fatalities almost double. Thunderstorms are very dangerous and not a subject to
take lightly which brings me to the main topic. Safety not being visible enough for to us on the
government websites that have the most credible information. We can receive all the information
about thunderstorms, everything written above is listed on the government websites. however
However, there are almost no tips or safety procedures on these websites to shield or keep us safe
from the thunderstorms that are everywhere!

Problems
The unknown dangers of lightning
Many people only think you can get struck by lightning if you are outside standing up
completely exposed, and this is false. As mentioned below in the Myths section lots a lot of what
people know are not true and this can lead into a problem. However, some people might not
think that lightning is not a very big issue, when lightning can do many things. Even if lightning
does not strike you directly. if If it hits the ground near you the hot air expands so quickly it
creates a shockwave between 10 and 30 atmospheres and if you someone isare within 1m 1M of
thisthis, you can be thrown off your feet and even your clothes will be ripped off. Secondly
causing bruises from the blunt fall and deafness or ear rupturing from the strike. Other
casesOtherwise, lightning can cause such an intense magnetic field which can large short charges
in your body causing your heat to stop.

Safety not being visible

There are so many ways you people can defend yourself themselves from a thunderstorm and
even walkingif they were to walk into a room with less electronics or getting out of a vehicle can
make the biggest difference in a storm. Learning all these defensive techniques should be in the
same location to learn about all these storms.
However, this is not the case, even the simplest knowledge can change the outcome of a serious
injury. Locating information should not be from third party websites and videos on the internet
because there can be many myths that can teach false information (more on that later). When all
the information is in the same location it can inform the public on the dangers of the storms and
educate them before anything bad happens to them. The most embarrassing thing is the most
informative websites for safety are kids’ websites, thus when adults go to websites like this, they
will not think it is a s credible source and get discouraged when reading it.
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Myths being available

The onlyOne concern isn’t the visibility of all the safety information but its also the false
information spread out in to the public. As mentioned before getting out of a vehicle is a safe
thing to due because the rubber tires on a car will not protect you from lightning. The Insurance
Information Institute wrote a small article on the top 10 myths and facts to disprove a lot of false
information on thunderstorms. Lots of the information online the website are widely known
rumors that some peopleaverage people don’t know could get them in danger, to this day I am
still afraid of getting caught in quicksand which is a child’s tale from cartoons.. The smallest
amount of false information can be ingrained in someone’s mind and can spread like wildfire and
can put many people in danger.

Effects on Humans
The worst case of thunderstorms is losing your life to a lightning strike, there are many effects
that can happen to youanyone. Some people struck directly by lightning may suffer severe burns
but many other emerge relatively unscathed (ReaktionDerek M. Elsom). Physical damage is the
most notable thing that most people will realize. Yetbut lightning strikes can also have
neurological effects. Many times, the survivors will not remember being struck by lightning, the
only thing that could prove the event would be the marks on their body. However, over time
mental issues can start to occur, the most common issue being memory issues, trouble
concentrating, and severe headaches.

Figure 1 Lichtenberg scarring shows on this victim

that was struck and outlines ruptured blood vessels

There are also non-direct effects to humans that could be more severe than just damage to their
body it can be damage to their propertythem which is property damage. When floods or wildfire
occur and damage property it can affect everyday life and without this awareness of this it can
cause more emotional and mental problems than you can anticipate.that can be anticipated.
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Dangers not visible

Knowledge on how to make yourself and others around youkeep the general public safe not is
common sense. However, this kind of information is not an accessible feature. being an
accessible feature but not knowing the dangers you can be in can be an immense danger.
Thunderstorms being as common as they are you everyone should know what could happen to
you someone if you they were struck or even near lightning strikes because the danger of being
near a strike are necessities. Just like the commercials for medicine having a 30 second
advertisement followed up by a 30 seconds of side effect warnings the same should be available
on government websites. If more people know knew the dangers of these storms it could be the
end of physical, and mental dangers , and less severe affecting effects on everyone’stheir
property.

Solutions
Current Attempts
There are many attempts now trying to solve the problems listed above. Chonglin Liu and Stan
Heckman both wrote a whitepaper on lightning predication and in the paper, they go into detail
of all the lightning sensors and weather instruments spread out all over the US. As you shown
will see below in figure 2 this is NASA’s new lightning sensor working 24/7 to keep people in
Hawaii safe. More than 8000 weather stations covering North America, and this is amazing
because if we have a warning of when we might have a thunderstorm approaching, I urge
everyone to stay safe. However, this is only one part of a solution, even with proper notice of a
storm moving closer to your location, how would do you knowpeople know how to keep
yourself themselves from danger without the correct information.

Figure 2 A long-range, ground-based lightning sensor like this PacNet IMPACT ESP sensor at Lihue airport in Kauai, Hawaii,
works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to detect electromagnetic signals produced by lightning. Credit: Vaisala
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Another helpful event is held in June every year, the US has the National Lightning Safety
Awareness week with each day of the week supporting and highlighting a different aspect of
lightning. They have a very memorable one liner to make sure you can remember the how to stay
safe such as “if you can see it, flee it”, or “when thunder roars…. Go indoors!” as you can see in
figure 3. The government website weather holds all this information and reports lots of data on
thunderstorms not only during the week which can be very valuable to anyone needing to know
this information.

Figure 3 The US national Lightning Safety Awareness weekly banner during june of 2015

Website changes
My biggest gripe about all these solutions is the location for it all. Across 4 four different
government websites I was able tocould find the information of how lightning works, where
thunderstorms are most frequent, and how they can cause harm to your others; but I could not
find the information to keep myself or other around me safe. The National Sever Storms
Laboratory (NSLL) should have this information before the FAQ in their lighting or
thunderstorms section. The amount of data they have collected and information they showcase
yet no safety or referral links? I propose that you either combine the NSLL website with the
weather.gov website so you can streamline all the information together and with this information
people will be in a you can make sure people are in a safer environment or can go to the
Lightning Safety Awareness Week that has a lot of information to protect yourselffor protection.
When anyone visits either website, they will be taken to the new website which would explain
thunderstorms and have all the information to stay safe. The thunderstorm and lightning
awareness website have 4 four links at the very bottom to the American red cross and other
websites you can receive help, along with a free copy of Natures most violent storms which
despite the other government websites can come in handy. The new website should also have the
four links at the very bottom and give out a free copy of book to make sure the public is in safe
hands.
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Conclusion
Thunderstorms are a common and dangerous aspect that we must learn to live with, to many
people they do not pose a serious threat but can easily change your life at any time. Without the
government showing the public how to be safer during these dangerous storms and having to rely
on third party websites and information it can jeopardize your life. Consolidating all the safe tips
to one website and making the information more available we can make the US a safer
environment and share it around the world rather than entrusting other websites and videos that
can demonstrate false information.

References
Bouquegneau, Christian, et al. How Dangerous Is Lightning? Dover Publications, 2010.

Elsom, Derek M. Lightning - Nature and Culture. Reaktion Books, 2015.

“Lightning Safety: 10 Myths-and the Facts.” III, www.iii.org/article/lightning-safety-10-myths-

and-the-facts.

Liu, Chonglin (Charlie), and Stan Heckman. Total Lightning Data and Real-Time Severe Storm
Prediction. www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/IMOP/publications/IOM-109_TECO-
2012/Session5/P5_10_Liu_Total_Lightning_Data_and_Real-
Time_Severe_Storm_Prediction.pdf.

Picone, Kiri. “The Effects Of A Lightning Strike On The Human Body.” All That's Interesting,
All That's Interesting, 22 May 2018, allthatsinteresting.com/effects-of-a-lightning-strike.

“Thunderstorm Basics.” NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory,

www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/thunderstorms/.

US Department of Commerce, and Noaa. “Thunderstorm and Lightning Awareness.” National

Weather Service, NOAA's National Weather Service, 21 Jan. 2016,
www.weather.gov/cae/thunder.html.