No One You Know wrote:

Hi Mike. In an earlier post it was stated that "replacement value
homeowners insurance" is the only true protection for a lightning
strike and that is still the surest bet.
NOYK in SW Ocala

It cost our insurance company some money, but I'll bet that Sprint
spent $10,000 to fix everything in that Lake County strike that
vaporized the underground phone line. They had to bury a new 25 pair
line to all the pedestals on my road, and a new six pair a quarter mile
to the house because everyone on the old cable had intermittent noise on
their phones. They had to replace the guts in several pedestals because
their lightning protectors failed and left nice burn marks.

BTW, are you getting ready for the hurricane season? I'd like to buy
a 3 KW or larger generator while we have the sales tax holiday, but I
just don't have the extra cash right now. I finally got a truck and
fixed it so I don't have to depend on someone else to take me places.
I've already spent $200 on it in less than two weeks and I still need to
fix the air conditioner.

--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

What some of you people don't see is that during most thunder storms
here in central Florida there can be an average lightning strikes in
the thousands for each storm. Not your typical anywhere else in the US.
That being said, there is no protection from a direct hit. Never was
and never will be( affordable anyway). You can protect from near hits
though through proper grounding. Heck, when I lived in northern
Michigan I would get a static charge from a snow storm at times.
Protect as well as can be done affordable and then rely on you
homeowners policy to pick up the pieces. After all, thats why you
bought insurance isn't it?


Yeah Mike, we're getting some things together again but I'm not going
for a generator yet, just canned goods and LP tanks and batteries etc.
I guess we should board up in June and take the boards off in December.
Makes for a dark summer ;-p

Most lightning strikes remain in the sky - are not CG type.
It is the CG (cloud to ground) type lightning that causes
electronics damage. Typically, the resulting destructive
transient occurs about once every eight years. In Central
Florida, this number is higher. I have seen estimates of once
every two years.

But this is a regional average. Other conditions such as
underlying geology change this number for neighborhoods and
even between homes. To better determine a threat risk, one
should learn the neighborhood history.

Regionally, FL has some of the higher number of CG
lightning. But WV has some of the highest numbers 'per
thunderstorm'. Another region of concern is a large area
between AZ and NM. The mid west may have spectacular
thunderstorms, but the frequency of CG lightning in this
region is low.

No One You Know wrote:
What some of you people don't see is that during most thunder storms
here in central Florida there can be an average lightning strikes in
the thousands for each storm. Not your typical anywhere else in the US.
That being said, there is no protection from a direct hit. Never was
and never will be( affordable anyway). You can protect from near hits
though through proper grounding. Heck, when I lived in northern
Michigan I would get a static charge from a snow storm at times.
Protect as well as can be done affordable and then rely on you
homeowners policy to pick up the pieces. After all, thats why you
bought insurance isn't it?

Yeah Mike, we're getting some things together again but I'm not going
for a generator yet, just canned goods and LP tanks and batteries etc.
I guess we should board up in June and take the boards off in December.
Makes for a dark summer ;-p

No One You Know wrote:

What some of you people don't see is that during most thunder storms
here in central Florida there can be an average lightning strikes in
the thousands for each storm. Not your typical anywhere else in the US.
That being said, there is no protection from a direct hit. Never was
and never will be( affordable anyway). You can protect from near hits
though through proper grounding. Heck, when I lived in northern
Michigan I would get a static charge from a snow storm at times.
Protect as well as can be done affordable and then rely on you
homeowners policy to pick up the pieces. After all, thats why you
bought insurance isn't it?

Yeah Mike, we're getting some things together again but I'm not going
for a generator yet, just canned goods and LP tanks and batteries etc.
I guess we should board up in June and take the boards off in December.
Makes for a dark summer ;-p

I picked up a truckload of plywood for my dad and step mom the other
day. My dad is cutting them to size and painting them to withstand the
hard, blown rain and ground water if we get hit again. I can't afford
any plywood this year, so I just have to take my chances. I had enough
pieces of scrap plywood to do the west side of my house, but it seems to
have disappeared into my dad's woodworking projects over the last four
years that we didn't have any hurricane worries.

--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida