Summer storms pose risks for people, livestock, property

Summertime is peak season for outdoor sports, picnics, food festivals, boating, camping—and lightning strikes.

The National Weather Service reports about 25 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in the U.S. each year. While lightning strikes can be fatal to humans, they inflict much more damage on property and livestock.

“We get the majority of our lightning strike insurance claims starting in April or May and extending through Labor Day,” said Rick Mattox, vice president of claims for the Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. “It really picks up through the summer months.”

Lightning can disable sensitive electronic appliances like TVs and computers, as well as heavier equipment like refrigerators and heat pumps. It can start fires in homes and outbuildings, and it can kill livestock, particularly cattle. Last year lightning strikes led to $739 million in homeowner insurance claims, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Whatever the damage, Mattox said it’s important for a policyholder to do his or her homework before filing a claim.

“One thing many insureds do not understand is that when a lightning claim is presented, the burden is on them to present evidence that lightning caused the property damage or the death of the cow,” he said. “So we would ask the insured to provide documentation from a service technician, confirming that lightning was the cause and estimating whether or not the appliance can be repaired. We may also ask for a veterinarian’s assessment on cattle deaths.

“And if your insurance policy doesn’t specifically list lightning damage as a covered risk, you may not be covered.”

Unplugging valuable appliances can reduce the risk from a lightning strike, Mattox said, but there’s not much that can be done to keep cattle safe except to get them indoors. And that’s not often practical.

As frightening as a lightning strike can be, hail storms usually cause more damage, he added.

“We get more lightning claims than hail claims in our part of the country, but when that type of (hail) storm hits, it damages everything in its path,” Mattox said. “Plus many homeowners may not discover hail damage for weeks after the storm, so those claims tend to trickle in for a long time.”

While Virginia is not a high-risk state for lightning-related injuries, the NWS said four Virginians died from lightning strikes between 2004 and 2013, and an average of 33 people nationwide died each year during that period. As of June 1 there have been six lightning fatalities nationwide. Only about 10 percent of lightning strike victims die as a result of the strike.