
What it’s like to be struck by lightning - frgtpsswrdlame
https://mosaicscience.com/story/what-its-be-struck-lightning
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rsync
As an aside, as trivia ...

It may interest HN readers to learn (it interested me) that if you are
standing near downed power lines (for instance, your car crashed into a pole
and it fell, or a storm, whatever) you need to _jump away_ from those downed
power lines.

You need to stay in one fixed place and then jump, up in the air, to the next
place, and continue to "bunny hop" away from the downed power lines.

The reason is, depending on the amount of moisture in the earth, or cracks in
the asphalt, or dirt, or water or whatever, it is possible for there to be a
spot where there is more resistance in the ground _between your two feet_ than
there is in your two legs and so (if you are walking) the electricity will arc
out of the ground, up one leg and then down the other.

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malandrew
When bunny hopping does the distance between your feet matter? i.e. Is it
better to keep your feet closer to one another as you do it?

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benchaney
Being able to move while keeping your feet as adjacent as possible is the
entire reason to bunny hop in this situation.

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flying_dutchman
I was struck by lighting in Italy 2.5 years ago. Happy to answer any
questions. For background: We were observing and photographing a lightning
storm from the upper slopes of Mt Etna in Italy. We were pulled off from the
side of the road with several other cars around. Blue sky and no wind - the
storm was still far away. There were families with kids and it was a
breathtaking scene. I had my 7d mark i on bulb setting to capture the distant
lightening, with only my right index finger on the shutter release. I don't
remember much more than waking up, paralyzed down the right side of my body. I
had an, at the time terrifying but also beautiful fractal burn mark down the
right side of my chest. 12h of emergency services followed. The other person
struck that day was in the morgue. It turned out to have been the biggest
storm in 50 years. I got very lucky and have no side effects to date.

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kunstmord
Had a "run-in" with lightning a few years ago: while walking to the grocery
store with an umbrella, heard what sounded like an explosion (my ears rang for
the rest of that day) and was nearly blinded by the bright light, but managed
to see a big spark between my thumb and the metal part of the umbrella, and
feel a slight jolt of electricity. So, in all probability, the lightning hit a
nearby house, and via the lightning rod it all went into the ground and
through me (partially)?

No burns, no real damage done to me or the umbrella, but I was really shook
up.

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unit91
Yikes. I'm not sure which is more scary -- the hole over the chest or the
burnt underwear!

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mi100hael
Definitely the underwear.

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mirimir
That article is very difficult to skim :(

