Lightning eats SSA Excom Minutes

From the latest SSA news:

"While I know this is going to sound like an excuse right up there with
"The dog ate my homework assignment..." last week the Carswell house in
Midlothian TX was struck by lightning (really). It blew a 10 foot hole
in the roof while Dean and his wife Tammie were trying to sleep through
a storm, traveled down two floors, and exited to ground along the path
of his internet access. The strike essentially fried everything
electrical in the house, including wiring and all computers, but
fortunately caused no fire. It remains to be seen if any of the Board
minutes Dean had on his hard drive are recoverable, but at least he had
printed out an interim version before things blew."

When I'm not flying gliders, I work with lightning stuff (typically
hardening high-tech facilities and forensic issues). We have all noted
a large increase in these sort of problems in recent years, and
coincidentally there was an article in today's Wall Street Journal
lamenting the same thing. Houses are increasingly full of expensive
electronic toys that get eaten by lightning, resulting in a sharp
increase in insurance claims in recent years.

Oh yes, and US houses, being mostly constructed out of wooden sticks
and paper, are often burned to the ground by lightning, so I guess Dean
was relatively lucky.

Mike (the Strike)

P.S. Gliders and lightning are best kept apart!

Knowing the area where they live, which is out on a small ridge looking
out over teh valley that contains TSA, I can certainly believe this. I
owned 40 acres about a mile east of there and our barn and 150 bales of
hay were taken by a small tornado... Yeoch!!!

Jack Womack

I can vouch for that nasty night. I live about 5 miles north of Deans
residence and it was a very nasty night, most notably one with about
four hours of continuous booming and a ton of lightning. I left the
house about 0430 to fly a trip, and the sky just kept lighting up.
Interesting stuff!
Snoop

Jack wrote:
Knowing the area where they live, which is out on a small ridge looking
out over teh valley that contains TSA, I can certainly believe this. I
owned 40 acres about a mile east of there and our barn and 150 bales of
hay were taken by a small tornado... Yeoch!!!

Jack Womack

hopfully the drive will work in another computer..
BT

"Mike the Strike" wrote in message
ups.com...
From the latest SSA news:

"While I know this is going to sound like an excuse right up there with
"The dog ate my homework assignment..." last week the Carswell house in
Midlothian TX was struck by lightning (really). It blew a 10 foot hole
in the roof while Dean and his wife Tammie were trying to sleep through
a storm, traveled down two floors, and exited to ground along the path
of his internet access. The strike essentially fried everything
electrical in the house, including wiring and all computers, but
fortunately caused no fire. It remains to be seen if any of the Board
minutes Dean had on his hard drive are recoverable, but at least he had
printed out an interim version before things blew."

When I'm not flying gliders, I work with lightning stuff (typically
hardening high-tech facilities and forensic issues). We have all noted
a large increase in these sort of problems in recent years, and
coincidentally there was an article in today's Wall Street Journal
lamenting the same thing. Houses are increasingly full of expensive
electronic toys that get eaten by lightning, resulting in a sharp
increase in insurance claims in recent years.

Oh yes, and US houses, being mostly constructed out of wooden sticks
and paper, are often burned to the ground by lightning, so I guess Dean
was relatively lucky.

Mike (the Strike)

P.S. Gliders and lightning are best kept apart!

So wasn't it Ben Franklin that invented the fix for this problem, the
lightning rod, connected to earth ground?
I've often wondered why home insurance companies don't insist on having them
installed on each house they insure.
And no, my house doesn't have them either.


"BT" wrote in message
...
hopfully the drive will work in another computer..
BT

"Mike the Strike" wrote in message
ups.com...
From the latest SSA news:

"While I know this is going to sound like an excuse right up there with
"The dog ate my homework assignment..." last week the Carswell house in
Midlothian TX was struck by lightning (really). It blew a 10 foot hole
in the roof while Dean and his wife Tammie were trying to sleep through
a storm, traveled down two floors, and exited to ground along the path
of his internet access. The strike essentially fried everything
electrical in the house, including wiring and all computers, but
fortunately caused no fire. It remains to be seen if any of the Board
minutes Dean had on his hard drive are recoverable, but at least he had
printed out an interim version before things blew."

When I'm not flying gliders, I work with lightning stuff (typically
hardening high-tech facilities and forensic issues). We have all noted
a large increase in these sort of problems in recent years, and
coincidentally there was an article in today's Wall Street Journal
lamenting the same thing. Houses are increasingly full of expensive
electronic toys that get eaten by lightning, resulting in a sharp
increase in insurance claims in recent years.

Oh yes, and US houses, being mostly constructed out of wooden sticks
and paper, are often burned to the ground by lightning, so I guess Dean
was relatively lucky.

Mike (the Strike)

P.S. Gliders and lightning are best kept apart!

Ray Roberts wrote:
So wasn't it Ben Franklin that invented the fix for this problem, the
lightning rod, connected to earth ground?
I've often wondered why home insurance companies don't insist on having them
installed on each house they insure.
And no, my house doesn't have them either.


"BT" wrote in message
...
hopfully the drive will work in another computer..
BT

"Mike the Strike" wrote in message
ups.com...
From the latest SSA news:

"While I know this is going to sound like an excuse right up there with
"The dog ate my homework assignment..." last week the Carswell house in
Midlothian TX was struck by lightning (really). It blew a 10 foot hole
in the roof while Dean and his wife Tammie were trying to sleep through
a storm, traveled down two floors, and exited to ground along the path
of his internet access. The strike essentially fried everything
electrical in the house, including wiring and all computers, but
fortunately caused no fire. It remains to be seen if any of the Board
minutes Dean had on his hard drive are recoverable, but at least he had
printed out an interim version before things blew."

When I'm not flying gliders, I work with lightning stuff (typically
hardening high-tech facilities and forensic issues). We have all noted
a large increase in these sort of problems in recent years, and
coincidentally there was an article in today's Wall Street Journal
lamenting the same thing. Houses are increasingly full of expensive
electronic toys that get eaten by lightning, resulting in a sharp
increase in insurance claims in recent years.

Oh yes, and US houses, being mostly constructed out of wooden sticks
and paper, are often burned to the ground by lightning, so I guess Dean
was relatively lucky.

Mike (the Strike)

P.S. Gliders and lightning are best kept apart!



One of my customers has spikes at each roof peak, connected by chains
along all ridges that continue down to grounding rods at each corner.
Another customer lost a electrical appliances to a direct hit.

Frank Whiteley

Mike the Strike wrote:
From the latest SSA news:

"While I know this is going to sound like an excuse right up there with
"The dog ate my homework assignment..." last week the Carswell house in
Midlothian TX was struck by lightning (really).


Well, here in Tucson, we are sometimes known as the "lightning capital"
of America...and I have to tell you, we have a tree in the front yard
that was struck last year, while we were sitting in the house...sounded
like a terrorist bomb attack. The house shook, the power wavered off
and on, and the dogs went to hide. I firmly believe the story!

I have yet (lo, these many years) ever been able to recover a hard
drive from any power surge that great....sorry, I don't hold much hope!
Good luck.

micki minner

...struck by lightning (really).
It blew a 10 foot hole in the roof...

Picutres ! We want Pictures !

My mobile medical unit was struck by lightning while traveling on the
interstate near Junction, TX some years ago. The bolt struck the left
forward corner of the trailer and traveled forward to the tractor
wiping out the lights, engine computer, gauges, head, taillight and
marker bulbs and much of the wiring and rearward through the trailer
where the only damage was to the ceramic insulators in the x-ray
processor heater located at least 25 feet aft of the strike. The
trailer framing is steel so the charge apparently traveled through it
to the road protecting the x-ray equipment; the entire cab on the
tractor (GMC Astro), however is fibreglass and the wiring, gauges,
engine, frame rails and computer were the pathway. The driver was
badly frightened, but otherwise OK.

I'm mildly curious as to what pathway lightning might follow through my
carbon and glass fibre glider (not curious enough to experiment
however). Like Micki, I also believe the story.

Ray Warshaw
1LK


MickiMinner wrote:
Mike the Strike wrote:
From the latest SSA news:

"While I know this is going to sound like an excuse right up there with
"The dog ate my homework assignment..." last week the Carswell house in
Midlothian TX was struck by lightning (really).


Well, here in Tucson, we are sometimes known as the "lightning capital"
of America...and I have to tell you, we have a tree in the front yard
that was struck last year, while we were sitting in the house...sounded
like a terrorist bomb attack. The house shook, the power wavered off
and on, and the dogs went to hide. I firmly believe the story!

I have yet (lo, these many years) ever been able to recover a hard
drive from any power surge that great....sorry, I don't hold much hope!
Good luck.

micki minner

MickiMinner wrote:
Mike the Strike wrote:
From the latest SSA news:

"While I know this is going to sound like an excuse right up there with
"The dog ate my homework assignment..." last week the Carswell house in
Midlothian TX was struck by lightning (really).


Well, here in Tucson, we are sometimes known as the "lightning capital"
of America...and I have to tell you, we have a tree in the front yard
that was struck last year, while we were sitting in the house...sounded
like a terrorist bomb attack. The house shook, the power wavered off
and on, and the dogs went to hide. I firmly believe the story!

I have yet (lo, these many years) ever been able to recover a hard
drive from any power surge that great....sorry, I don't hold much hope!
Good luck.

micki minner
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/images/map.pdf shows the propensity
for lightning.

Florida has the most casualties, mostly on golf courses, but trails
behind many states in intensity.

The most intense storms I've personally experienced were in Nebraska
and Turkey.

Colorado has a lot of tornadoes, but tipping a shed or cow makes little
news.

Frank Whiteley