DAMAGES TO HOUSES
If your home is totally destroyed by a fire due to a lightning strike, family heirlooms, antiques, art, family photos, etc. will be gone forever and can never be replaced.
Homeowner paid claims only (which do not include policy deductible amounts) are as follows for 2008: The number of paid insurance claims was 246,200. Insured losses were $1.065 billion. The average cost per claim was $4,324[i]
Lightning is responsible for more than $5 billion in total insurance industry losses annually, according to Hartford Insurance Co.[ii] On annual average, about 3% to 4% of home insurance claims are a result of lightning.[iii]
DAMAGES - FIRES
During 2002-2004 U.S. fire departments responded annually to about 31,000 fires caused by lightning with $213,000,000 in direct property damages.[iv]
Lightning is the leading cause of fires in suburban and rural areas. • Lightning causes more than 30% of church fires and almost 20% of lumberyard fires.
Holle et al. (1995-homeowners only) analyzed lightning claim costs reported by State Farm Insurance Co. in Colorado , Wyoming and Utah
DAMAGES OUTDOORS
2010 -- 28 people killed by lightning and 238 injured
All the fatalities were outside
2009 -- 34 killed and 255 injured
2008 -- 27killed and 304 injured
Months of most incidents = June 21%, July 30%, Aug 22%.
Time of day of most incidents = 2 PM to 6 PM.
Number of victims = One (91%), two or more (9%).
Deaths by State, Top Five = FL, MI, TX, NY, TN.
Injuries by State, Top Five = FL, MI, PA, NC, NY.
DAMAGES - STATISTICS
• Lightning is our #2 weather-related killer in the U.S. Lightning kills more people than hurricanes and tornadoes combined.
• Lightning causes billions of dollars in property damage each year.
Table 1. Annual average severe weather fatalities by decade from 1940-1991
| |||||
Year
|
Lightning
|
Tornado
|
Flood
|
Hurricane
| |
1940-1949
|
337
|
154
|
144
|
22
| |
1950-1959
|
184
|
135
|
79
|
87
| |
1960-1969
|
133
|
94
|
121
|
59
| |
1970-1979
|
98
|
99
|
182
|
21
| |
1980-1989
|
72
|
52
|
110
|
12
| |
1990-1991
|
73
|
46
|
102
|
8
| |
Total (51 yrs.)
|
8316
|
5731
|
5828
|
2031
| |
FUTURE DAMAGES
If the theory of global warming is correct, “we could see double or triple, even more, in the number of lightning strikes by mid-century.” [v]
Chinese scientists have warned that global warming is likely to intensify extreme weather patterns, and severe storms in recent years may be a prelude to this.[vi]
The rapid growth of silicon-based, microprocessor-controlled devices across our society will accelerate costs and losses so long as adequate lightning protection measures are not adopted as a standard practice.
Footnotes:
[i] Insurance Information Institute, NY, press release, 6/22/09.
[ii] TMCNet Newsletter, Sept 14, 2006.
[iii] Factory Mutual Companies.
[iv] NFPA Report, January 2008.
[v] Dr. Martin Uman, Univ. of Florida Lightning Research Center, quoted in article in New York Times, Sept. 9, 2001.
[vi] China
