JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As storms travel across the First Coast, we are on your side with tips on protecting your home and what to do if your property is struck by lightning.
Florida is the lightning capital of the United States, averaging up to 100 thunderstorm days per year in some areas of the state according to the National Weather Service (NWS). It leaves homes and buildings at risk of destruction.
“A direct hit, it can cause fire and most likely will cause a fire. The other thing is that it creates a power surge," Ron Woods, a structural engineer, said.
A 2022 video shows lightning hitting a home in Fernandina Beach, leaving a hole in the roof and damaging the electrical system, according to the homeowner. Luckily the house did not go up in flames.
Woods says construction materials could be the difference between a lightning strike and a lightning-initiated fire.
Homeowners with metal roofs could be at a lower risk of a fire if their house was hit by lightning, but there is no 100% prevention method.
“Metal panels on the roof, those tend to spread the lightning strike out quite a bit rather than where you have shingles or some other type of flexible asphalt roof system on there, then the lightning just goes right into that. So, you tend to get the flame starting up pretty quickly on that," Woods said.
Besides replacing your roof, homeowners can also install lightning rods which are designed to intercept a lightning strike.
While this will help, it will not prevent lightning from hitting your home, and insurance agents urge homeowners to look at their policy now to ensure coverage.
“It can kind of be scary, but I would say, don't go to your electrical panel and start messing with it, leave all of that alone. And maybe just take pictures of what you can see that was damaged," said Joe Carlucci with Brightway Insurance.
Another tip from the NWS – house is a safe place to be during a thunderstorm but you want to avoid anything that conducts electricity. This means not using electrical appliances, touching wires or metal doors and windows during a storm.