By K. Lakshmi
When a thunderstorm activity occurs, the focus is often more on rain that it brings. But lightning could be a threat to life and property too. There is a need to develop lightning hazard mapping to identify regions vulnerable to lightning strikes in the State, note disaster management experts.
On an average, a minimum of 40-45 deaths are caused every year by lightning strikes across the State, going by the data for over three decades compiled by the Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management, Vellore Institute of Technology.
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Lightning could often be more dangerous than other natural disasters. It is a sudden high-voltage discharge of electricity that occurs in the atmosphere. It is also discharged from the clouds to the ground. NCRB data revealed that 35.3% of the accidental deaths, which occurred due to natural disasters in 2019, were reported due to lightning strikes and 11.6% of fatalities were caused owing to flood in the country.
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The Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management, VIT, suggested that a database on fatalities and damage due to lightning flashes must be compiled for hazards mapping. This would help avert risks and plan protection system and predict aviation hazards and forest fires.
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