When Summer Storms Strike: Lightning Safety

6/9/2021 (Permalink)

Not a year goes by that we don’t come face-to-face with at least one forceful, severe summer storm. Storms in the summer months can take the form of short rain showers, severe squalls, and everything in between. Regardless of the type of storm that hits your area this summer, it is critical to understand the severity of damage that storms can bring to homes as well as commercial buildings. Because our goal here at SERVPRO of Metro Pittsburgh East is to help our customers be prepared for severe weather such as summer storms, we like to compose blogs dealing with storm topics such as flash flooding and hurricane preparation every summer. In this blog, we want to focus on lightning safety and the dangers of lightning, which are often overlooked. Lightning presents a wide range of risks to buildings, including fire damage, considerable structural damage, and electrical surges. For more information about the repercussions of lightning strikes and a plan detailing what to do in the event that lightning strikes your home or business, be sure to continue reading.

Types of Lightning Damage

When lightning strikes, homes and businesses become vulnerable to not just fire damage, but structural damage and devastation to personal belongings as well. Fires that ignite as a result of a lightning strike most frequently occur in the top floors or attics of buildings, as those areas are the closest to the roof. These fires can then spread to other areas of the home or business when the electrical current from a lightning strike travels through electrical wires. In the wake of fire damage, structural elements of homes and businesses, including attics and roofs, can sustain significant damage or even be destroyed completely through fire. Often overlooked when considering lightning damage are personal belongings or important objects that are found inside of homes and businesses of all kinds. From important papers and artwork to electronic devices like computers and appliances, a wide range of personal belongings can be negatively impacted by the aftermath of a lightning strike.

I Think That Lightning Struck My Building- What Should I Do?

You may be wondering how to decipher between a distant crack of lightning and a direct strike to your home or building, as distant lightning strikes are sometimes so loud that it seems possible that they have hit our home or building when in reality, they have not. The bottom line is that the level of noise resulting from a direct lightning strike will transcend the usual volume of a distant crack of lightning. Therefore, it will be immediately apparent if lightning strikes your home, commercial business, or property. While there is a low probability that lightning will strike a building directly, it is always a good idea, in order to best minimize damage, to develop a plan of action in the event that it occurs. First on the to-do list if you believe that your home or building has endured a lightning strike is to make sure that no fires have ignited. Only once it is certain that there is no fire, you can check for signs of electrical damage in breakers as well as damage to piping, which may be evident in leaks or flooding. At the first sign of damage of any kind, it is best to immediately contact a professional who can diagnose the problem.

SERVPRO Is Here to Help

Our storm damage professionals here at SERVPRO of Metro Pittsburgh East are equipped with the resources and experience necessary to guide you through the entire restoration process after lightning damage or any other type of storm damage. As soon as you call us at (412) 672-5400, our crews will arrive quickly, ready to help your home or building pick up the pieces. Trust our professional Storm Damage Cleanup and Restoration Services to make your storm damage “Like it never even happened.” We also offer many other services that may benefit your home or business depending on your unique situation. For commercial business, we offer specific Commercial Storm Damage Remediation Services. For homes and businesses alike, we offer a catalog of Building Services like Roofing Services that may be beneficial if your roof has been damaged due to lightning or a severe storm. If your storm damage resulted in fire, water, or mold damage, our Fire Damage Restoration Services, Water Damage Restoration Services, and Mold Remediation Services are available to you. No storm is the same and neither is the specific destruction that homes and commercial businesses endure in the aftermath of severe storms. Therefore, SERVPRO of Metro Pittsburgh East strives to tailor all of our services to our customers’ unique needs, supporting you from the beginning to the end of the remediation process and restoring normalcy after any disaster.