Dear Valued Customer,

June is Lightning Safety Awareness Week, so in this issue of “———————-“ we focus on keeping you and your loved ones safe during a lightening storm.

The good news from the insurance information institute is that the dry weather experienced in the western half of the country has brought the amount of lightning damage down significantly in the past few years. The bad news is that lightning can occur at any time and it can cause fatalities and devastate an individual – or even entire neighborhood in seconds – striking quickly, with little or no warning.

Read on to understand the five ways lightning can strike people, and understand Lightning Safety Practices so you know what to do if you hear or see lightning approaching.

We appreciate your continued business and look forward to serving you.

Kind regards,

Lightning: What You Need to Know

• NO PLACE outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area!!
• If you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you.
• When you hear thunder, immediately move to safe shelter: a substantial building with electricity or plumbing or an enclosed, metal-topped vehicle with windows up.
• Stay in safe shelter at least 30 minutes after you hear the last sound of thunder.

Indoor Lightning Safety

• Stay off corded phones, computers and other electrical equipment that put you in direct contact with electricity.
• Avoid plumbing, including sinks, baths and faucets.
• Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches.
• Do not lie on concrete floors, and do not lean against concrete walls.

Last Resort Outdoor Risk Reduction Tips

If you are caught outside with no safe shelter anywhere nearby the following actions may reduce your risk:

• Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks
• Never lie flat on the ground
• Never shelter under an isolated tree
• Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter
• Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes and other bodies of water
• Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.)

Source: National Weather Service, “Lightning Safety” http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov website. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/tips.htm

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

It is not always possible to know exactly how a victim has been struck, but here is a list of ways that lightning strikes its victims. Any of these types of strikes can be deadly. Immediate medical attention, including calling 911, starting CPR, and using an AED, may be critically important to keep the person alive until more advanced medical care arrives.

• Direct Strike–A person struck directly by lightning becomes a part of the main lightning discharge channel. Most often, direct strikes occur to victims who are in open areas. Direct strikes are not as common as the other ways people are struck by lightning, but they are potentially the most deadly. In most direct strikes, a portion of the current moves along and just over the skin surface (called flashover) and a portion of the current moves through the body–usually through the cardiovascular and/or nervous systems. The heat produced when lightning moves over the skin can produce burns, but the current moving through the body is of greatest concern. While the ability to survive any lightning strike is related to immediate medical attention, the amount of current moving through the body is also a factor.
• Side Flash—A side flash (also called a side splash) occurs when lightning strikes a taller object near the victim and a portion of the current jumps from taller object to the victim. In essence, the person acts as a “short circuit” for some of energy in the lightning discharge. Side flashes generally occur when the victim is within a foot or two of the object that is struck. Most often, side flash victims have taken shelter under a tree to avoid rain or hail.
• Ground Current—When lightning strikes a tree or other object, much of the energy travels outward from the strike in and along the ground surface. This is known as the ground current. Anyone outside near a lightning strike is potentially a victim of ground current. In addition, ground current can travels in garage floors with conductive materials. Because the ground current affects a much larger area than the other causes of lightning casualties, the ground current causes the most lightning deaths and injuries.
• Ground current also kills many farm animals. Typically, the lightning enters the body at the contact point closest to the lightning strike, travels through the cardiovascular and/or nervous systems, and exits the body at the contact point farthest from the lightning. The greater the distance between contact points, the greater the potential for death or serious injury. Because large farm animals have a relatively large body-span, ground current from a nearby lightning strike is often fatal to livestock.
• Conduction—Lightning can travel long distances in wires or other metal surfaces. Metal does not attract lightning, but it provides a path for the lightning to follow. Most indoor lightning casualties and some outdoor casualties are due to conduction. Whether inside or outside, anyone in contact with anything connected to metal wires, plumbing, or metal surfaces that extend outside is at risk. This includes anything that plugs into an electrical outlet, water faucets and showers, corded phones, and windows and doors.
• Streamers—While not as common as the other types of lightning injuries, people caught in “streamers” are at risk of being killed or injured by lightning. Streamers develop as the downward-moving leader approaches the ground. Typically, only one of the streamers makes contact with the leader as it approaches the ground and provides the path for the bright return stroke; however, when the main channel discharges, so do all the other streamers in the area. If a person is part of one of these streamers, they could be killed or injured during the streamer discharge even though the lightning channel was not completed between the cloud and the upward streamer. See Robert’s story as an example of a streamer injury.

For more on the science of lightning:

• National Severe Storms Laboratory
• Little Known Facts
• NWS Colorado Lightning Program
• Florida Lightning Information Center
• NWS Jetstream Lightning Tutor
• NASA International Lightning Strike Maps

Source: National Weather Service, “Lightning Science: Five Ways 
Lightning Strikes People” http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov website. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/struck.htm

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.

Insured losses to homes from lightning strikes in the United States fell to their lowest level in a decade last year, as severe thunderstorm activity eased from near-record levels and dry weather prevailed throughout much of the western half of the country. Despite the respite, insurers still paid $673.5 million in lightning claims to more than 100,000 policyholders in 2013, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

Although total insured losses from lightning were down by nearly one-third (30.5 percent) in 2013, the decline since 2004 is a much more modest 8.4 percent. In the prior three years (2010 – 2012), home insurers paid approximately $1 billion per year, on average, to policyholders.

An analysis of homeowners insurance data by the I.I.I. and State Farm® found there were 114,740 insurer-paid lightning claims in 2013, down 24 percent from 2012. The average lightning paid-claim amount was also down in 2013, slipping by 8.3 percent to $5,869 from $6,400 in 2012.

The decline in lightning damage last year is consistent with data from the National Weather Service, which recorded 137 days in 2013 with lightning causing property damage, while 160 such days were recorded in 2012—a 14 percent decrease.

The incidence of lightning claims last year is also a continuation of a downward trend. Since 2004, the number of paid lightning claims is down nearly 60 percent over the nine-year period through 2013. The sustained decline in the number of claims may be attributed to an increased use of lightning protection systems, technological advances, better lightning protection and awareness of lightning safety as well as fewer lightning storms.

“While this is good news for homeowners, lightning is still an extremely costly weather-related event,” warned the I.I.I.

HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE CLAIMS AND PAYOUT FOR LIGHTNING LOSSES, 2004-2013

Source: Insurance Information Institute, State Farm®.

Despite the drop in the number of paid claims in 2013, the average cost per claim rose nearly 122 percent from 2004-2013. By comparison, the consumer price index rose by 23.3 percent in the same period.

The average cost per claim has generally continued to rise, in part because of the huge increase in the number and value of consumer electronics in homes, according to the I.I.I.

TOP 10 STATES WITH ESTIMATED NUMBER AND COST OF LIGHTNING CLAIMS, 2013

Source: Insurance Information Institute, State Farm®.

The I.I.I. noted that Georgia was the top state for lightning claims in 2013. The state had an estimated 11,184 claims paid to policyholders, totaling $56 million. Texas, however, had the highest average cost per claim at $8,436, but had about one-third fewer claims than Georgia.

Insurance Coverage Damage caused by lightning, such as fire, is covered by standard homeowners and business insurance policies. Some home and business policies provide coverage for power surges that are the direct result of a lightning strike. The optional comprehensive portion of an auto insurance policy also provides coverage for lightning damage.

Reducing the Risk of Lightning Damage In recognition of Lightning Safety Awareness Week (June 22-28), consider the following tips from the Lightning Protection Institute and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) to protect your home or business against lightning.

• Have a lightning protection system installed for your home or business.
• Be sure the lightning protection system is designed and installed in accordance with accepted industry standards and meets National Fire Protection Association, Lightning Protection Institute and UL requirements.
• Include protection for electrical, telephone, cable or satellite TV lines entering the structure.
• Make sure all equipment is UL-listed and properly labeled.

Lightning protection systems are designed to protect a structure and provide a specified path to harness and safely ground the super-charged current of the lightning bolt. The system neither attracts nor repels a strike, but receives the strike and routes it harmlessly into the earth, thus discharging the dangerous electrical event. Investment in a lightning protection system will protect your property, belongings and equipment.

Lightning Safety Tips

“Lightning-related fires are more common in summer months and in the late afternoon and evening,” said Kim Loehr, Director of Communications for the LPI.  “Peak seasons for lightning related fires vary by region, as do weather patterns in general,” she said. “No matter what the season or the region, if you are outside and hear thunder, seek indoor shelter right away. Most lightning victims are just steps away from safe shelter.”

The Lightning Protection Institute also advises the following:

Outdoors

• Seek lower elevation areas.
• Never use a tree for shelter.
• Immediately get out and away from pools, lakes and other bodies of water.
• Stay away from all metallic objects (fences, power lines, poles, etc.)
• Do not raise umbrellas or golf clubs above you.

Indoors

• The safest place to be in a storm is in a structure protected with an LPI certified lightning protection system.
• Stand clear from windows, doors and electrical appliances. Unplug appliances well before—never during—the storm.
• Avoid contact with piping including sinks, baths and faucets.
• Do not use the telephone, except for emergencies. Cellphones are safe to use.

The LPI will hold its Lightning Safety Awareness Week workshop at the University of Maryland’s Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) in College Park, Maryland, on Tuesday, June 24, at 10:00 a.m. Lightning science and safety experts include the University of Maryland, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Lightning Protection Institute, Insurance Information Institute, Lightning Safety Alliance, Earth Networks, and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. Click here for more information and to register for the event, or call Abby Robinson at 301-405-5845.

RELATED LINKS

• Insurance Issues Update: Catastrophes
• Facts and Statistics: Lightning
• Lightning Videos:

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety
• NOAA Lightning Safety page
• National Weather Service
• National Fire Protection Association

The I.I.I.’s free mobile apps can help you create a disaster plan, learn about selecting the right insurance for your needs and budget, and create and maintain a home inventory. Learn more about our suite of apps here.

THE I.I.I. IS A NONPROFIT, COMMUNICATIONS ORGANIZATION SUPPORTED BY THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY.

Insurance Information Institute, 110 William Street, New York, NY 10038; (212) 346-5500; www.iii.org

Source: Insurance Information Institute, “Lightning Facts” http://www.iii.org website. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.iii.org/press-release/number-cost-of-homeowners-insurance-claims-from-lightning-fell-in-2013-dry-conditions-fewer-powerful

© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.