Important safety rules during a thunderstorm
The thunderstorm season is fast approaching. The main destructive factor of a thunderstorm is lightning, which can cause severe injury or death, as well as damage to buildings, fires, and power lines.
A thunderstorm can catch you at home or at work, in a car or on the street, so, given the danger of this phenomenon, it is necessary to know the characteristic signs of its approach. These include: the rapid development of powerful, dark cumulonimbus clouds in the afternoon; a sharp drop in atmospheric pressure and air temperature; stuffiness and stillness; good and clear audibility of distant sounds; approaching thunderclaps and lightning flashes.
Knowing the rules of conduct during a thunderstorm will help save your life and the lives of others, so we remind you once again, if you find yourself:
In an apartment, house, or building: eliminate drafts, close windows and chimneys tightly, disconnect electrical appliances from power sources, disconnect outdoor antennas, stop phone conversations, do not stay near windows, stoves, fireplaces, massive metal objects (heating radiators), on the roof, or in the attic.
In the forest: try to meet the thunderstorm in a clearing, do not seek shelter under the crowns of tall or solitary trees, do not lean against their trunks, as a direct lightning strike to a tree can shatter it into splinters and injure nearby people. Do not stay near a campfire: a column of hot air is a good conductor of electricity. Do not climb tall trees.
In an open area: make sure you are not the highest point in the vicinity, as lightning most often strikes there. Do not stay on elevations, near metal fences, power line poles, or under wires, do not walk barefoot, do not hide in haystacks or straw, in uninhabited single barracks or sheds, do not raise conductive objects above your head: shovels, hoes, scythes. Stop sports games and movement, do not use a mobile phone, go indoors, do not gather in a dense group in a potentially dangerous place.
In the mountains: immediately leave the danger zone, stop moving, avoid body contact with wet rocks, narrow crevices, overhangs, and grottos, isolate yourself from wet ground and rocks as much as possible using rubber-soled footwear, a dry tent, a sleeping bag, a rope, a backpack, a stone, or a tree trunk. Try to keep your clothes, footwear, equipment, food, and medications dry. Lower metal objects on a rope or place them 15-20 meters away from people.
In a tent: set up the tent as far as possible from trees, secure it additionally, cover it with a waterproof film, place metal objects at least 10-15 meters away from the tent, tightly close all openings, including the entrance, put on dry clothes, and lie down. In thunderstorm-prone areas, a copper strip can be woven into the tent ridge and grounded using a metal rod driven into the ground.
By the water: do not swim during a thunderstorm, and do not stay in close proximity to a body of water.
In a boat: as a thunderstorm approaches, row to the shore immediately, as you are the highest object on the water. Stop fishing, lower any objects protruding above the boat as much as possible, do not stand – squat down, and do not touch metal objects.
In a car: stop moving, do not park in a high place or an open field, wait out the thunderstorm inside the car, do not refuel the car during bad weather, do not stay between cars or in the truck bed, do not sit on metal objects, and do not hold metal objects.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones!