On August 4, 2021, 17 people, including 5 women, were killed in a lightning strike while going to a Pakka area of the adjoining Shibganjupazila for a wedding ceremony at a ghat house on the banks of riverPadma in Sadarupazila of Chapainawabganj district. When it started to rain heavily, they took refuge in a tin-shed house at the dock and died at the spot. At that time, this tragic accident of lightning caused a great stir in the whole country.
Moreover, the locals left their food and drink to prevent the theft of the bodies of those killed in the lightning strike and started burying the graves with rod cement. When someone dies in a lightning strike, that corpse becomes a precious object. The media reported that the villagers had taken this initiative out of the fear that the bodies of those killed in lightning strikes would be stolen from the country.
However, the number of deaths due to thunderstorm is increasing at present. News of such deaths is often heard in different parts of the country. In the four months from March to June 2021, 177 people were killed in lightning strikes across the country. At least 47 people were injured at the same time.
According to a study conducted on thunderstorm, three types of lightning strikes occurred in Bangladesh in 2015-2020. From one cloud to another cloud or inter-cloud, from one place of the same cloud to another place or inner cloud and from cloud to earth. At that time the total amount of those three types of lightning was 55 million. The highest number of thunderstorms in 24 hours is between 8-10 pm, 12 percent.
On the other hand, there is also a difference in the type of lightning in the seasonal pattern. About 59 percent of lightning strikes during March to May, and 31 percent during the monsoon season, from June to September.
However, about 70 percent of the total thunderstorms occur from April to June. In the two months before the onset of monsoon in Bangladesh, the incidence of lightning in Sylhet, Sunamganj and Moulvibazar is much higher than other districts. Rangamati, Sunamganj and Chittagong are the first three districts to experience lightning during monsoon.
Thunderstorm happens in a fraction of a thousandth of a second. This change causes the surrounding air to expand like an explosion at high speed. This produces loud noises and this is the sound we hear and see as the sound of lightning.
Increase in thunderstorms is thought to be caused by climate change, a decrease in the number of tall trees, an increase in the number of black clouds in the sky, an increase in the number of frictions in the clouds, and an increase in global temperatures. The higher the temperature, the higher the thunderstorm.
If the temperature rises by an average of one degree, thunderstorms are expected to increase by 10 percent or more. Nowadays clouds flow as a result of friction between clouds or the upper and lower parts of dense black clouds flow as two pools. This causes lightning to strike. As the density of black clouds has increased in recent years, the amount of lightning has increased as the amount of sudden rainfall has increased.
Lightning is an accident that is extremely difficult to prevent. If (lightning) happens then many people may die. In our country, the incidence of lightning usually occurs from April to June. It is important to take some precautions to avoid such death and injury in lightning.
These are-
1) Thunderstorms usually last 30-35 minutes. Stay at home during this time. If you need to go out of the house in case of emergency, wear rubber shoes, it will protect you from thunderstorms.
2) If you are in a paddy field or open field during a thunderstorm, you have to sit down with the weight on your toes and fingers on your ears. 3) If there is a risk of lightning, take shelter under a building or concrete tent as soon as possible. Do not go on the roof of the building or on the high ground.
4) Child should be kept away from any kind of sports during lightning, and kept indoors.
5) If there are tall plants, electric poles, metal objects or mobile towers in the empty space, do not stay near it. It is dangerous to be under a tree during a thunderstorm.
6) You should not go fishing in a boat without a tent during a thunderstorm. If you are in the sea or river, you have to stop fishing and take shelter under the boat tent.
7) If someone is inside the car, then the body cannot be connected to the metal part of the car.
8) If you are on the roof of the house or on a high place, you have to get down from there quickly and go to a safe place. If you see thick (storm) clouds during the season, be careful and take shelter in a safe place before the onset of rain.
9) Electrical conductors should be away from any object. It is not safe to stay in a pond or pond.
10) In case of lightning, it is better to keep the electronics of the house which are disconnected from the electrical connection or DIS. Even if they are closed, you have to refrain from touching them.
There is no alternative to awareness to be safe from lightning and to reduce the damage caused by lightning. Public and private initiatives should be taken to plant tall palm trees in a large number of open spaces or fields.
Writer: Banker and Columnist
