Dangers and Risks When Lightning Strikes Your Home

The good news is that the risk of lightning striking a person inside the home is low. Unfortunately, another risk you may not have thought of exists: the risk of fire.

When lightning comes into contact with flammable objects in your home, a fire can easily start. Worse yet, fires can start in areas you cannot see, such as your attic. Fires are common in higher levels of the home and often go unnoticed until the smoke and flames have caused serious damage in your home.

The threat of fire is real and scary, which is why protecting your home against lightning is always smart.

If lightning strikes, causing an electrical current to pass through these objects, the objects are likely to be destroyed. They will typically sizzle, crack and pop when they have become damaged. Usually they will not turn on again, but you shouldn't attempt to turn them on or plug them in after lightning has hit because doing so could be dangerous.

If you want to see if your items still work, take them to a professional repair service or to an electrician who can check them out safely.

This can be frustrating because electronic items are likely to be expensive or to contain important files or other information you can't easily recover if lost. These items can also catch on fire themselves, furthering the risk of a house fire as a result of lightning.

Lightning can often injure people who are using a plugged-in electronic device when a storm is raging. For this reason, avoid electronics use, especially electronics that come in contact with the skin like a traditional phone or headphones, when lightning is striking.

Avoid lying down on hard floors or leaning against walls during a storm. These structures often have metal parts inside, which makes them vulnerable to being struck by lightning and could cause injuries as a result.

For this reason, avoid turning on any electricity or electrical devices in the home after a lightning strike until a qualified electrician can come out and assess the damage.

Lightning can pose a threat to your home and the things and people inside of it. For this reason, you want to do everything you can to keep your home safe. For help and ideas on keeping your home safe, contact the experts at Michigan Lightning Protection. We can provide products and information about what to do to stay safe in a lightning storm.