14 DAY TRIAL // This year's Lightning Safety Awareness Week kicked off on Friday, June 21, in Parker, Colorado. To mark the event, NOAA released a report documenting how many people were struck and killed by lightning between 2006-2012.
Within said time frame, a total of 238 people living in the United States lost their lives after getting hit by lightning.
According to the report pieced together by NOAA's National Weather Service, 64% of these people were taking part in various leisure activities at the time of their death.
One might suspect that golfers run the highest risk of getting hit by lighting, seeing how they are walking about a field holding a metal rod in their hands, but that is not the case.
As it turns out, lightning only killed 8 golfers between 2006-2012. It also killed 12 soccer players, 14 people who were out boating, 15 campers and an impressive 26 fishermen.
Specialists suspect that fishermen are more likely to be hit by lightning because of their holding on to a metal rod while close to a water source.
The other people who were hit by lightning during these seven years were swimming, walking, jogging, picnicking or merely relaxing in their own yard.
“When people think of lightning deaths, they usually think of golf. While every outdoor activity is dangerous when a thunderstorm is in the area, outdoor activities other than golf lead to more lightning deaths,” lightning safety specialist John Jensenius comments on these findings.
What's interesting is that, according to this report, men have higher chances of getting hit by lightning than women do.
Thus, a whopping 82% of the 238 people who were struck by lightning between 2006-2012 were males.
This could be because men are more likely to display risky behaviors and refuse to seek appropriate shelter in the event of a thunderstorm.
"The best way for people to protect themselves against lightning injury or death is to monitor the weather and postpone or cancel outdoor activities when thunderstorms are in the forecast. Lightning can strike from 10 miles away, so if people can hear thunder, they are in danger of being struck by lightning.
“The only safe place to be during a thunderstorm is in a building with four walls and a roof or in a car. A hut, cabana, tent, or other rain shelter will not protect a person from being struck by lightning,” NOAA wishes to stress.