Stuck in Thunder Storm

[Monty]

So you are on the beach, fishing, walking the beach, casting, catching a few fish, a powerful thunderstorm moves in, you are trying to get back to your vehicle. But you are a half mile away and now in the storm, you came up short. What is the safest way to wait out the storm in this case? Do you run the half mile in sand and lightening?

[Rip-Plugger]

hmmm,

I think I would quickly dig a shallow trench and lay in it if there is no other shelter I can get to.
should be able to move beach sand fast enough.

R-P

[VSdreams]

This happened to me last season. I missed judged the distance and speed of the storm. I ended up laying down flat until the storm passed. I hopefully will never have that happen again, not cool!

[surfwalker]

I hope that someone has a good answer for this one. I've been caught too many times out there like that due to the "One more cast and then I'll leave syndrome". It's always too late, my own stupidy. Scares the doo doo outta me.

[pescador29]

I would drop the pole and run and get the pole later. The pole brings the lightning to you, careful.

[plugcrazy]

Lightning Safety Tips:

If caught in the open during a thunder and lightning storm and the hair on your head or neck begins to stand on end, go inside the nearest building immediately! If no shelter is available, crouch down immediately in the lowest possible spot and roll up in a ball with feet on the ground. Do not lie down!

If outdoors during a thunder and lightning storm, avoid water! Also avoid metal objects such as wires, fences, power tools, railroad tracks, etc. Unsafe places include: tents, golf carts, underneath trees. Avoid hilltops and open spaces. Where possible, find shelter in a building or in a fully enclosed metal vehicle, such as a car, with the windows shut.

If indoors during a thunder and lightning storm, avoid water! Stay away from open doors and windows. Hang up the telephone and take off headsets, because lightning may strike electric and phone lines and induce shocks. Turn off and stay away from appliances, computers, television sets, power tools, etc. Stay inside until the storm is over!

http://www.lifesaving.com/issues/articles/20thunder_lightning.html

[DarkSkies]

This happened to me last season. I missed judged the distance and speed of the storm. I ended up laying down flat until the storm passed. I hopefully will never have that happen again, not cool!

That can happen during sumer storms. If the storm comes right up on you like you said, I think the safest thing is lie down on the ground, away from the poles. I've done that a few times.

Carrying poles is asking for trouble, they can truly act as lightning rods. Obviously people would say to get out of there as soon as you see the storms coming, but if you fish far away from your truck, that ain't an option. And a lot of times the storms are over in a flash, despite the weather report.

I won't leave an area that has good fishin because of rain. I would rather wait or sleep it out in the truck.

[surferman]

Fishermen Survive Lightning Strike

War Veteran Saves Father, Son From Drowning

POSTED: 9:18 pm CDT June 11, 2009

LAKE HARRISONVILLE, Mo. -- A father and son out fishing were struck by lightning, and they lived to tell the story.


http://www.kmbc.com/images/structures/buttons/button_enlarge.gif
http://www.kmbc.com/2009/0611/19728685_240X180.jpg
(http://www.kmbc.com/mostpopular/19730665/detail.html#)
Jim Flink/KMBC
Gabe Neal with his custom graphite rod that was frayed by lightning.


A disabled veteran rescued the pair.


Gabe Neal and his 17-year-old son, Christian Neal, thought the risk of severe weather had passed on Sunday night when they headed out onto Lake Harrisonville.


"Lightning hit and it was about four seconds, and I thought, 'That's pretty close,'" Gabe Neal told KMBC's Jim Flink.

Seconds later, they found out just how close it was.



"About the best way I could describe it is if someone hit you in the chest with a sledgehammer," Gabe Neal said. "And I was in the water immediately -- 'boom' and in the water."


"And I felt like someone had just beat me and lit me on fire," Christian Neal said. "I was paralyzed from the waist down. I couldn't move my legs or my toes or anything else."

"Immediately I realized my legs would not work, and it felt like they had been blown off. That was a pretty dark moment," Gabe Neal said. "I remember praying, saying, 'God, if I've done anything wrong, please forgive me.'"



http://www.kmbc.com/images/structures/buttons/button_enlarge.gif
http://www.kmbc.com/2009/0611/19728350_240X180.jpg
(http://www.kmbc.com/mostpopular/19730665/detail.html#)
Jim Flink/KMBC
Christian and Gabe Neal


"When I came to, someone was pouring water on me, and that was Andrew," Christian Neal said.

Disabled Iraq war veteran Andy Flippin had been fishing a few yards away with his girlfriend and father.

"I just heard this loud crack," Flippin said.


He said his Army combat training kicked in and he raced over to help.


"As I got to (Gabe), he was getting ready to drown," Flippin said. "Then I went to Christian, who was still smoldering, and I dumped some water on him to put his hair out. I could tell he was the one who took the main hit from the lightning."


"My heartbeat was so erratic, they said if they didn't do something, it would kill me," Christian Neal said.

Paramedics arrived just in time.


"Staff at the hospital told us, 'We're just going by trial and error,' and that took me by surprise. I said, 'Why?' They said, 'We just don't treat very many lightning victims,'" Gabe Neal said.

That's because people hit by lightning usually don't survive.

"God led us all in the right steps. That's just all there was to it," Flippin said. Gabe and Christian Neal praised Flippin and the doctors who helped them. Both men are expected to fully recover.


Christian Neal has some scars, but those are expected to heal.

Gabe Neal, who makes fishing rods for a living, said he thinks his graphite rod served as a lightning rod. He thinks the lightning struck the rod first, instead of his son, and that may have saved his son's life.

http://www.kmbc.com/mostpopular/19730665/detail.html

[cowherder]

Bump to the top, a guy died yesterday in Long Branch while fishing with his son. RIP.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8550-East-Rutherford-Man-Struck-by-Lightning-in-Long-Branch-Dies

[BassBuddah]

I try to look at the hourly weather forecast for that afternoon on a site like wunderground. Then try to guage the severity of the storm. If it is real bad I will probably stay home. Fishing before a storm can be good but as was said not worth your life. ripplugger mentioned digging a shallow trench. Good idea if there is time. The best survival advice is to stay away from your rods as they can be lighting attractors. When caught in a place that is too far to get back to your truck stay as tight to the ground as you can laying flat. Good thread and a reminder to be safe this year.

[Monty]

I try to look at the hourly weather forecast for that afternoon on a site like wunderground. Then try to guage the severity of the storm. If it is real bad I will probably stay home. Fishing before a storm can be good but as was said not worth your life. ripplugger mentioned digging a shallow trench. Good idea if there is time. The best survival advice is to stay away from your rods as they can be lighting attractors. When caught in a place that is too far to get back to your truck stay as tight to the ground as you can laying flat. Good thread and a reminder to be safe this year.

I look at the same site and same hourly forecast. I have not found anything better.
Good advice.

[vpass]

I use the weather Radar on the Smartphone. I always make it to the car before Lighting starts striking. It usually very accurate. There was a few times that lighting or bad wather stalled or never developed, but I won't take any chances. If the weather is going to be bad I plan to fish near the car.