As summer storms have begun in the southeast, marked by recent thunder, thunderstorm safety is being stressed by authorities.
That includes Terri Lang, a meteorologist from Environment Canada, who says that even if it's not the main focus of extreme summer weather, lightning can be very deadly.
"Lightning kills and injures more people in Canada than tornadoes do, but everyone kind of focuses on tornadoes, so we always try and remind people that lightning can be quite dangerous. The rule of thumb is when thunder roars, go indoors. That means if you can hear thunder or see lightning, it's time to seek shelter."
That shelter should be stable and enclosed, with vehicles being acceptable to ride out a storm.
As well, people should wait until the last rumble of thunder and then wait another thirty minutes, as most lightning strikes on people happen around the storm.
"Studies have shown that most people are killed and injured before the storm actually hits and after the storm has left," said Lang,"So that means people are not seeking shelter soon enough and they're coming out of shelter too soon.So that's the number one tip that we have."
Additionally, even if there's no precipitation in the air, that doesn't mean there isn't a risk of lightning strikes.
"That's why when you're at a golf course andlightning has been detected they sound sirensbecause they want people to be able to seek shelter. Lightning can carry a really long distance away from a thundercloud and people don't realize that," said Lang,"They think it's just that the lightning happens only whenyou're sitting underneath the rain and that's just not the case."
