Lightning strikes kill more than floods, cyclones; cities under increasing threat

New Delhi, Jun 04
Lightning strikes claim more lives annually in India than other natural disasters such as floods and cyclones. They have turned deadlier over the years.
Climate change is leading to extreme weather events such as storms, rain, heatwaves and lightning are getting more frequent and more intense, causing more deaths and destruction.
However, while floods and heat waves that impact large swathes of the population attract the spotlight, lightning strikes that prove dangerous to individuals get less attention.
The average number of people who died of lightning strikes every year between 2006 and 2015 was about 50% higher than the decade before, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows. Taking into account population growth, the average deaths from lightning strikes per million people in 2006-2015 was 26% more than in 1996-2005.
Part of the reason for the higher number is better reporting but the increasing number of lightning strikes could be playing a role, scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology said.
V Gopalkrishnan and his colleagues at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, examined satellite data for the period from 1990-2013, and found a 2-3% increase in lightning strikes.