During what seemed to be a typical thunderstorm, a tragic event occurred for my family in North Carolina. During the storm, a squirrel who was trying to find shelter crawled into their electrical transformer and was electrocuted. The electrocution caused a devastating fire that claimed their North Carolina home. It was a freak of nature, really. After the fire investigation, the Fire Chief told them that it was a miracle that they made it out in time as the house collapsed within three minutes of the full blaze.
During a thunderstorm, animals try to ride it out like the rest of us. In fact, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, “As some animals head to higher ground or make an early migration when a storm is coming, others will simply hunker down and wait it out. For instance, crows, like many perching birds, will pick a safe branch and go into lockdown,”.
When the squirrel caught fire, it sent flames down the wires directly into their basement ceiling light socket and ignited the basement utility room on fire. Then, the fire approached the water heater, and it exploded, sending flames out of the basement window. A gas-powered golf cart was parked by that window, and as you can probably guess, it exploded. In doing so, it lit the house on fire from the outside, and it continued to burn from within the house as well. So, when the Fire Chief said that it was a miracle, they made it out. He was not exaggerating.
It was really a horrific event. They all had PTSD, and their beloved family dog, who made it out alive with the rest of the family, passed away from a broken heart only weeks later. It was heartbreaking for their closest family members, my mom and I, to watch them go through this from 800 miles away in Michigan, feeling powerless. Our hearts were broken for them.
When my mother received that early morning phone call, she sprang into action. She called the local Red Cross and FEMA. She also called local authorities in Asheboro, North Carolina, as this was a complete and total loss fire claim that was going to have to happen quickly. They lost everything. Their family history was demolished in a matter of minutes.
When something of this magnitude occurs, insurance coverage is key. But sometimes, the company you have been a loyal customer of for many years decides they will not pay out what is needed, so hiring a public adjuster is vital. And that is precisely what my friend recently did after a thunderstorm and high winds ripped down a fifty-year-old oak tree that landed on the side of her home and crushed her brand-new $30,000 air-conditioning unit. Her insurance company said that their policy did not cover it, and I suggested that she hire a public adjuster.
Even though the HVAC unit can be replaced, that fifty-year-old oak tree that her grandfather planted cannot be. Just like my aunt could not replace the family photos that were lost in her house fire, sadly my friend could not replace that beautiful old oak tree.
Do animals survive lightning strikes?
Like the squirrel that crawled into my family’s transformer died instantly from electrocution, so do the animals in the wild when they are struck by the Earth’s most potent form of natural energy: lightning. Apparently, though, wild herding animals do not necessarily get the message of how to hunker down and are at the highest risk of not surviving and making it through a thunderstorm.
That is, of course, unless they are like my grandpa. True story: my grandfather (Pops), struck by lightning not once but twice, not only survived but lived to tell the story! Seriously, what are the odds of that happening? Pops attributes it to wearing his rubber-soled tennis shoes. From my grandmother’s (Nana) perspective, she believed Pops survived those lightning strikes because he was too mean to die! Either way, my Pops was an anomaly and went on to live to be a feisty, cranky eighty-five-year-old man.
According to the Princeton University Press, “In the summer of 2016, an entire herd of 323 animals was struck dead by lightning…Reindeer are known to huddle together for safety, and the thunderstorm may have caused them to huddle even closer than normal out of fear. Unfortunately, all that huddling put the whole herd at elevated risk… cows, like reindeer, often huddle together. Losses of 10 to 30 cows at a time are regularly reported, which is a big enough threat to the survival of the business that some farmers carry insurance on their cows against lightning death,”.
Which animal is most affected by lightning?
Princeton went on to add, “The second reason grazing animals are at risk is that they are standing on four well-separated legs. The further the legs are apart, the greater the difference in ground voltage between one leg and another. A difference in voltage is what drives amps of current through the circuit. When lightning kills a large group of animals, such as those reindeer in Norway, it is typically ground current, rather than a direct strike, that’s the culprit,”. Seems to me, herding animals are at the highest risk.
While deaths from lightning strikes are not a common occurrence in itself, they are often tragic for a human or an animal because a single lightning bolt is so powerful, carrying up to one hundred million volts of electricity per punch! Obviously, should that much voltage hit an animal or a human body, it has the capability of stopping the heart and lungs instantly and causing death.
It’s no surprise that our homes are not safe from lightning either, and actually, it’s probably the most dangerous place to be during a thunderstorm as lightning naturally strikes the highest point it sees. That’s why most of us in Michigan head to our basements for shelter. So, unless you have a home entirely underground, it’s the tallest structure on your property, making it the most vulnerable to lightning strikes.
In fact, a direct strike most likely will spark a fire and damage the electrical system or, like my friend, her AC unit. It is highly recommended that our home’s electrical system be inspected by a qualified electrician at least every couple of years or so.
What do animals do during thunderstorms?
Animals, like humans, seek shelter during thunderstorms, but their actions can still lead to tragic events, as seen with a squirrel causing a devastating house fire.