Subj : Public Info Statement
To : ALL
From : Daryl_Stout
Date : Wed Jun 22 2016 09:00 am
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
600 AM CDT WED JUN 22 2016
...LIGHTNING SAFETY AWARENESS WEEK...
The National Weather Service has declared the week of June
19th through the 25th as LIGHTNING SAFETY AWARENESS WEEK. This
is the third of five public information statements to be issued
by the National Weather Service office in Little Rock
containing details about lightning.
Today's topic is LIGHTNING SAFETY AND SPORTS ACTIVITIES.
Whether you are out kicking a ball, or at a major sports event,
you should be prepared to go to a safe place when thunderstorms
are near. Nationwide, 30 people participating in sports activities
(soccer, golf, running, baseball, football) were killed by lightning
from 2006 to 2015. In many cases, those involved in the activities
failed to realize the developing danger.
The deadliest sport was soccer /12 lightning deaths/, followed
by golf /8 lightning deaths/ and running /5 lightning deaths/.
Nine out of ten of the victims were male.
It must be pointed out that water-related activities were far more
deadly than sports. Lightning killed 33 people while fishing,
which is more than all sport-related activities combined.
For anyone outside, you are already in danger if thunder is heard.
Officials in charge of organized sports should have a lightning
safety plan, and those involved in the sport should understand
the plan and know what to do.
The plan should include the following:
- where participants and spectators go for safety
- when the event should be stopped
- when the event should be resumed
- who is in charge of making weather-related safety decisions
It is also important to designate a person to watch the sky
and keep those in charge informed of changing weather
conditions.
For stadiums and larger venues, the National Weather Service has
toolkits which provide templates to help design a safety plan.
Those toolkits can be found at:
WWW.LIGHTNINGSAFETY.NOAA.GOV/LARGE_VENUES.SHTML
Remember that there is no safe place outside in a thunderstorm.
When thunder roars, go indoors!
Here's a list of topics for other days this week:
THURSDAY - Lightning Safety at Work
FRIDAY - Lightning Safety Around the Home
&&
This week is headlined on the local National Weather Service website
at WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/LZK/.
$$
---
� Synchronet � The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, AR - wx1der.dyndns.org
