Safety Tip from Ben:

When NOT to go fly a kite

benIf you're like Ben Franklin, you're naturally curious about natural occurrences such as lightning. Lightning was one of Ben's biggest fascinations and related to one of his most famous inventions -- the lightning rod.

You may remember in one of Ben's best known experiments he used a kite to attract lightning. Don't do this at home! Here are other safety tips and little known facts about lightning:

  • Your chance of being struck by lightning is 1 in 600,000.
  • Even so, lightning is the #1 cause of storm-related deaths.
  • Americans are twice as likely to die from a lightning-related incident as from a tornado, hurricane or flood.
  • It's a myth that lightning never strikes twice in the same place; the Empire State Building averages over 20 hits a year.
  • Lightning heats air to as high as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit ... hotter than the sun's surface.
  • Thunder occurs when lightning heats air causing it to expand rapidly. When the air cools, it contracts. This quick expansion-contraction causes air molecules to move back and forth making sound waves we hear as thunder.
    • During a storm ...
  • Stay indoors, if possible.
  • Stay away from open doors and windows, fireplaces, radiators, stoves, metal pipes, sinks and plug-in appliances.
  • Don't use plug-in appliances such as hair dryers, electric toothbrushes or electric razors.
  • Don't use the telephone.
  • If you're fishing, playing golf or flying a kite, immediately put down the pole, clubs or kite. As Ben found out, these can act as lightning rods.
  • Get out of the water and off a small boat.
  • Seek shelter in a building. If no buildings are available, get in a ditch, cave, or under head-high clumps of trees.
  • Avoid hilltops, tall trees, open spaces, wire fences, exposed metal sheds and anything other elevated object that might conduct electricity.
  • If you feel an electrical charge - your hair stands on end or your skin starts to tingle - immediately drop to the ground. Lightning may be about to strike you.

From your friends at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing ... where your comfort, safety, and peace of mind are important in fair and stormy weather.

(239) 775-2387