Even Lightning Can Strike Your House
Lightning struck your house? You never knew it was possible. Now everything you worked hard for is in ashes. How will you recover your investment? If only you were prepared, you wouldn’t be worrying much right now. If only you had homeowner’s insurance. As the chances of a lightning strike are very remote (less than 1 in 1 million a year), it can be hard to predict when your home can get struck. But the one thing you can control is the amount of protection for your house.
A lightning strike can cause major damage to your house. Although the chances of getting struck are very remote, a lightning strike from a distance presents a clear and present danger to your house. Lightning can cause property damage due to fire. In less than a microsecond, lightning discharges can generate up to 200,000 amps of electricity.
Our homes are filled with more sophisticated electronics and circuitry making a property damage due to a lightning strike a huge possibility. When this happens, the cost of replacing every appliance, TV, computer, and electrical wiring can pile up and you may not have enough funds to pay for the cost of repairs or damages you will incur after your house has been struck with lightning.
Protect Yourself From Lightning with a Homeowner’s Insurance
Lightning can cause fires inside or outside your house. It can damage the wiring in your walls or cause electric shock or injury to you or your household. It can trigger a power surge that can damage or destroy your appliances in a matter of seconds. The more electronic items you have in your home, the more costly the damage becomes. When lightning strikes, you may not have the money to cover the losses you will incur as a result of the accident.
For as low as P1,000 a year, an Assurance.PH homeowner insurance will provide you with the protection you need in case of a lightning strike. Lightning can cause major damage to your property and its contents. If you pay it from your own pocket, whatever savings you have may become drained. With an Assurance.PH insurance policy, you are entitled to receive the following benefits:
Full Value Protection (6-in-1 comprehensive insurance package)
Affordable at just P1,000 for a basic premium
Not limited to homeowners as home renters can also receive coverage for their contents equivalent to the property coverage
Extensions of Cover:
Alternative accommodation
Personal liability
Burglary & Housekeeping Cover
Replacement of lock & key
Accidental Breakage of Fixed Glass
Family Personal Accident Insurance
Family Hospitalization Insurance
Household Employee Insurance
Valuable Items Protection
Protecting Your House From Lightning Strikes
Although getting struck by lightning is rare, lightning strikes can have lingering and debilitating effects on the struck individual. While some die instantly after being struck, 75% of those who survive have ongoing health problems like cataract or hearing loss. Some may experience burns and blunt injuries.
Even though your house is the safest place to be in during a lightning strike, you may still be at risk. In fact, nearly a third of lightning strike injuries happened indoors. Lightning will first strike the structure and then follow metal conductors into the ground. Here are some tips on how to keep your house and your household safe from being struck by lightning.
Avoid water
When there is lightning outside, you should avoid taking a bath or shower, washing dishes, or any activity that involves contact with water. The lightning current will make its way through your plumbing system. It is best to let the storm pass,
Do not use electronic equipment
Avoid using electronic equipment like computers, laptops, game systems, washers & dryers, stoves, or anything connected to an electrical outlet. Lightning will travel through wiring to reach the ground so avoid being ob appliances or equipment that is plugged into an electrical outlet. As much as possible, they should be plugged out during a lightning strike. Install a surge protector to protect your appliances. If you must unplug, don’t do it during the storm as you could still get struck.
Avoid windows and doors
Lightning can be a sight to behold. However, during a storm accompanied by lightning, it is advisable that you should stay away from windows and also close your blinds. Strong winds can break windows but closing the blinds will limit the amount of glass or outside debris that can enter your home.
Avoid lying on concrete floors or leaning on walls as well. Lightning can travel through any metal wires or bars in concrete walls or floorings. Concrete is a conductor of electricity so be careful when leaning or standing on these surfaces.
Lightning Strike Safety Tips Outdoors
If you are outdoors and got caught in a lightning strike close by, here are some tips for protecting yourself:
If the weather forecast includes thunderstorms, it is better to postpone your trip or activity.
When thunder roars, go indoors. Find a safe shelter such as homes, offices, malls, or hard-top vehicles with rolled-up windows
Practice the 30-30 rule. At the sight of lightning, count to 30. If there is thunder before reaching 30 counts, suspend whatever you are doing for at least 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder.
If you are in an open area, act quickly and look for adequate shelter. Your objective is to remove yourself from imminent danger. Crouching or getting low to the ground will lessen your chances of getting stuck but will not eliminate the risk. If there is no safe shelter nearby, do the following:
Stay away from elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges, or peaks
Avoid lying flat on the ground. Assume a ball-like crouching position by tucking your head and hands over your ears so that you are down low with minimal contact with the ground,
Avoid hiding under an isolated tree
Avoid using a cliff or coky overhand as shelter
Stay out of ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water
Avoid objects that conduct electricity such as barbed wire fences, power lines, or windmills
Lightning strikes are a rare occasion, you will never know when it’s gonna hit. But when it strikes and burn your house down, what can you do? Here at Assurance, we can give you the protection that you need to protect your house from lightning strikes. Talk to an Assurance.PH advisor for further details at contact@assurance.ph / 09157052031 or 09052050402.