Every year, an estimated 6,000 to 24,000 people are killed by lightning across the world, and many more are injured. A lightning researcher at the University of North Dakota studies both the physics of lightning and its impact on people. The physics is the same no matter where you are, but the impacts can be very different depending on where you live.
Central Africa’s Unique Circumstances
Central Africa is one of the most lightning-active regions on Earth. Researchers like the one at the University of North Dakota know almost nothing about who is being struck and what happens to them in this region. That’s why the researcher has spent the past 10 years working with the African Centres for Lightning and Education Network to build the largest publicly available database on lightning casualties on the continent.
Africa experiences an average of 2 million to 4 million lightning strikes annually. Near the equator, the Congo Basin receives intense solar heating year-round. Water vapor from the Congo rainforest constantly fuels warm and moist air from the Gulf of Guinea. The Adamawa Plateau and Cameroon Highlands force that air upward, creating some of the most electrically active thunderstorms on Earth.
Exposure and Vulnerability
The frequency of lightning alone in this region doesn’t explain the high number of injuries and deaths from strikes in Africa. The real story is also about exposure and vulnerability. To understand where lightning poses the greatest threat, the researcher’s team created a way to measure and compare risk across countries.
Of the 15 African countries where the team has enough data to calculate risk, 14 fall in either high or very high lightning risk categories. The only exception is South Africa, where the lightning hazard is moderate, vulnerability is low, and a strong lightning research team has helped drive safety improvements.
In soon-to-be published research, the team found that 87% of the lightning fatality incidents in Africa involved more than one victim, compared to fewer than 10% in developed countries. Mass casualty incidents have been consistently reported in Uganda.
Beyond Statistics
In addition to gathering data about lightning strikes, the team also interviews survivors to learn more about the health effects of being struck by lightning. One woman, a nurse, recalls that she was vaccinating children at a primary school when she was struck by lightning with such force that she was thrown through a classroom window.
Her clothes caught fire, and she lost consciousness immediately. She was in the hospital for four days and still suffers from chronic pain, partial paralysis in her legs, and memory loss. Before the strike, she was a healthy and active nurse. Now, she struggles to walk and had to leave her job.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
