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Can Lightning Electrocute You In The Bathtub?
- Thread starter Mr Light
- Start date
My parents always cautioned me against being in the shower or bathtub during a lightning storm, but I think they might have been misinformed as to the reasons why. They told me not to do it because "lightning is attracted to water".I'll admit, I'm not very scientifically knowledgeable, but that never made much sense to me. Besides, water is freakin' everywhere, what are the odds it'll hit the water in our bathtub?
Anyone here actually know anybody who's been hit by lightning? I found out a few years ago that a friend of mine's father was killed from being struck by lightning when she was a little girl. Freaky.
my mother when she was very young got shocked from a stove during a lighting storm because she was opening the door using a metal handle.
a boy she knew as a kid was killed while standing in an open doorway watching the storm.
lighting just freaked my out and she woudnt have water running ect
during a storm.
oh i do know of someone who had the innards of their phone melted during a storm.
Just last month, in fact. The wife of my second-cousin, once-removed (my mom's cousin - we all just called him Uncle Tommy though because we were close) was struck by lightning up in Northern California outside Portola.
She was dead for several minutes before the paramedics arrived because it was a rural area, and burned over a large part of her body, but they revived her and took her by helicopter to UC Davis. She never came out of the coma though, which given the condition of her body was probably a blessing. After about a week and a half they took her off of life support.
I didn't know her particularly well, but I met her a few times and she was really nice. I just felt terrible for Tommy because he had to see his wife on fire and had to wait for minutes while she was lying there with no pulse for help to arrive. I can't imagine what he was going though. The decision to take her off of life support was relatively easy by comparison according to what my mom said.
Another woman was killed in Southern California in Fontana I believe during that same brief series of summer (well, late-spring actually) lightning storms.
When I was living in San Antonio, one of my co-workers told me her 12-year-old niece was struck by lightning when she went out onto the sidewalk to watch the storm. And she survived it!
I remember there being an article in the newspaper about the incident. Lucky girl, I've gotta say.
I remember there being an article in the newspaper about the incident. Lucky girl, I've gotta say.
Was she wearing rubber-soled shoes?
I'm afraid I don't quite get the reference (unless you meant Heinlein's short story "All You Zombies"), but if you're suggesting I phrased that sentence poorly, looking at it again, I kind of agree with you.
I've thus edited for clarity.
About 10 years ago lightning hit the house while my wife was on the phone. As a a quick reaction, she pulled the phone away from her ear and an arc of energy came out of the receiver. She dropped the phone and her hand that was holding the receiver went numb. Fortunately she's alright, but scary stuff.
The "arc of energy" was probably not directly from the lightning. There's no way a person's reaction time would beat the speed of electricity.
Landline, corded, phones run on something like nine-volts. I'm not sure the wiring in them is robust enough to carry the energy in a lightning bolt. It may melt pretty quickly.
Besides, just talk on a cordless phone.
Ringer voltage is about 40 volts.
Spiderman can beat Electro. Your thesis is flawed.
I once did a literature search and presentation on lightning strikes and the injuries they can cause. There are some pretty funky stories out there in the scientific literature. Stuff like entire football teams being knocked out on a wet field by the splash effect from a lightning strike, or similar effects in crowds from it hitting one person on a cellphone.
My mom was under the impression the electricity would travel through the pipes in the ground to the drain to the bath water. She also harped about using the phone in a lightning storm... even after we got cordless phones!!! She's not exactly a credible source
My God I think we have the same mother!
I live in the "lightning capital of the world" & I live with her, so I hear this from her a lot. Also makes me turn off the tv and computer during a lightning storm.
I have heard about not being in the water during lightningstorms, but i dont think my mom ever meant the bathtub.
I do pull out the tvcords and so on if it is a big thunderstorm out there. But otherwise, nope. When I was a kid the best thing about the thunderstorms were the rains, and my mom had all sorts of trouble getting me indoors.. i would stretch my arms out and twirl around. Loving it.
I do pull out the tvcords and so on if it is a big thunderstorm out there. But otherwise, nope. When I was a kid the best thing about the thunderstorms were the rains, and my mom had all sorts of trouble getting me indoors.. i would stretch my arms out and twirl around. Loving it.
my mom even thinks its dangerous to stand directly in front of a window during the storm... which I like to do a lot b/c I love to watch lightning.
It's not a great idea in the event strong winds/a tornado might blow something through the window. Lightning may also be attracted to you through the window.
It happened to my sister's computer a couple years ago as well. Unplug the power cord from the wall AND the internet cord!Similar threads
