What To Do When Your Home Gets Struck By Lightning

2/24/2022 (Permalink)

Being that I have spent 27 years with SERVPRO one of the craziest phenomenon’s that I do not think that people understand is the damage that a lightning bolt can do by either striking your home or the ground around your home. In my career I have been out to several homes that did not even get hit with an actual strike, the ground next to there home was hit, yet there home still ended up on fire.

It is storming outside tons of thunder and lightning, then the lightning strikes your house directly, do you know what to do? I suggest calling the fire department immediately. Lightning striking your home can cause a fire in the attic or walls of your home. Just because you do not see flames after a lightning strike does not mean you are out of the woods; enclosed space fires are not visible in their beginning stages.

Cloud-to-ground lightning bolt's main objective is to find a path of least resistance from the clouds to the ground. Gas lines, water pipes, electrical lines, phone lines, cable/internet lines, metal window frames, gutters, downspouts, anything that is conductive in your house is ‘fair game’ for lightning to follow, although it does not need conductive objects to reach the ground. Lightning can move its way through miles of air, so conductive objects in a house are not a necessity they are just a mere 'convenience' that it will use when available. 

When lightning passes through a house it will often 'branch' (just like it does in the sky) and utilize more than one path to ground at a time. Lightning can also side flash, meaning it can also jump through the air from one conductive path to another. Let me give you an example, lightning’s path first may connect to your electric lines in the attic of your home, then possibly jump to better-grounded water pipes on the first or second floor. Remember you read earlier it is always trying to find that path of least resistance.

The current that lightning produces is significant to say the least. The damage lightning could cause to a home is substantial, but because the risk of your home getting struck by lightning is so low, very few homes have any sort of protection installed. It can also be very costly to have this protection system professional installed.

Below are three main hazards that can occur when a home gets struck:

• Fire danger: Most building materials are flammable and unfortunately can easily ignite anywhere that channel passes through them. The attic or the roof of your home are the most common areas for a fire to ignite relating to a lightning strike, as the lightning channel must pass through some of the structural material in the roof before it can reach a more conductive path such as wiring or pipes. When lightning current travels through wires, it will commonly burn them up - presenting a fire ignition hazard anywhere along the affected circuits.
   
• Power surge damage: If lightning chooses any of the home's electrical wiring as its primary or secondary path, the explosive surge can damage even non-electronic appliances that are connected. Even if most of the lightning current takes other paths to ground, the home's electrical system will experience enough of a surge to cause potentially significant damage to anything connected to it.
   
• Shock wave damage: Another major source of damage from lightning is produced from the explosive shock wave. The shock waves that lightning create is what produces the thunder that we hear, and at close range, these waves can be destructive. Lightning can easily fracture concrete, brick, cinderblock, and stone. Brick and stone chimneys are commonly damaged severely by lightning. Lightning's shock waves can blow out plaster walls, shatter glass, create trenches in soil and crack foundations. Shrapnel is a common secondary damage effect, with objects sometimes found embedded in walls!

What about a structure that has no wiring or pipes? It is rare for a house to be devoid of electrically conductive paths to ground, but they do exist - such as camping/fishing cabins. In that case, all bets are off on how the lightning will choose to reach the ground. Again, the lightning has just jumped across miles of non-conductive air, so the lack of wires or pipes will not stop it from passing through a completely non-conductive structure. Such a structure does not provide a person with good lightning protection - so if you are caught in one during a storm, consider moving into a hard-topped automobile which provides a much better degree of safety.

What can you do to stay safe from lightning while inside of your house?

Since we know the common paths, lightning can follow in a house (wiring and pipes), the best thing to do is stay away from those paths as best as possible during a storm. Direct contact with them should be avoided. This includes taking a shower or bath, washing hands, doing dishes, typing on a computer, playing video games, and using a wired phone, tool, or appliance. Metal-framed windows should be avoided. Wireless devices are safe to use (cell phones, cordless phones, remotes, etc.).

Direct skin contact with earth ground should also be avoided, as lightning current can travel through soil and across wet/damp concrete. Wear shoes if walking in a basement, garage, or patio.

What to do if lightning strikes your house

If your home is hit directly by lightning, your immediate concern should be for any fires that may have been ignited. Call the fire department! Again, the most common place for lightning-caused fires in a home is in the attic, but they can start anywhere the lightning has traveled. Some fires inside the walls and attic may not be immediately apparent and not easily accessible. You should also watch for falling debris from damaged chimneys, shingles, or walls.

You should also strongly consider contacting an electrician to have your home's electrical system inspected for any damage that might present a future fire hazard.

Can you get struck by lightning inside of a house?

While it is rare, yes, it is possible to receive a lightning injury inside a house. Burns and electric shock injuries can occur when someone is in direct contact with one of lightning's chosen paths to ground. The most common indoor lightning injuries involve a person talking on a corded phone or resting on/looking out of a metal-framed window. "Side flashes" (discussed above) that jump across rooms can also cause injuries but are exceedingly rare. Indirect shrapnel-related injuries from building materials have also been documented.

How to protect sensitive electronics from a strike

It is impossible to provide 100% protection to sensitive electronics from a direct lightning strike. The best thing to do is to unplug any high-value item you wish to protect during storms, as surge protectors and UPS units cannot provide direct-strike protection. Some could argue that the risk of a direct strike to any given house is too low to justify unplugging everything for every storm that passes overhead. It is wise to make sure your homeowner's or renter's insurance covers lightning damage. Your insured expensive electronics can be replaced. However, consider irreplaceable such as the data saved on your computer (photos, videos, work files, etc.). You can mitigate that risk by performing frequent offsite backups and/or storing data on an external hard drive that you can unplug when needed.

Should I have a lightning protection system installed?

A professionally installed lightning protection system can reduce or eliminate the fire and injury hazards if your house happens to be struck directly. You will want to assess the risk of a strike and weigh the costs versus benefits. Insurance may be a more cost-effective option, especially if you live in an area of average to below-average thunderstorm frequency. If you are in a zone if frequent lightning activity (such as Florida and the Gulf Coast regions of the USA), a protection system may offer more of a benefit.

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