When lightning strikes your home, it can cause extensive property damage and put your safety at risk. Fortunately, you can take action to mitigate catastrophe by following the seven essential steps we’ll discuss below.
Quick Checklist: Steps to Take Immediately After a Lightning Strike
- Make sure everyone is safe and check for injuries.
- Call emergency services if you discover signs of fire, smoke, or injury.
- Stay away from downed power lines or damaged utilities.
- Evacuate if you smell gas or hear hissing.
- Unplug your electronics and shut off the main breaker if it’s safe to do so.
- Document all visible damage with photos, videos, and written lists.
- Call a licensed electrician for a full inspection.
Tip: Lightning damage may not be immediately visible; hidden electrical faults can spark fires hours or days later.
Key Takeaways
- Lightning strikes can cause both visible and hidden damage to your home.
- Safety first! Never re-enter your home before it’s cleared.
- Professional inspections can protect your home against delayed electrical fires.
- Whole-home surge protection reduces future risk of lightning-induced property damage.
Step 1: Check for Injuries and Call for Help
Lightning can travel through electrical wiring, plumbing fixtures, and window frames to shock you in your home. If lightning hits your house, check to see that everyone is safe before you do anything else.
If anyone is injured, call 911 immediately. Serious injuries could include burns, nerve damage, or cardiac arrest, so if you live in a stormy region, consider getting a CPR certification and prepare for every circumstance.
Step 2: Inspect for Immediate Hazards
After lightning strikes your property, it’s important to ensure that your house and yard are safe from fire or electrical hazards by taking the following steps:
Check for Downed Power Lines
Storm damage to outdoor power lines can increase the risk of fire or electrocution. Always stay at least 30 feet away from downed power lines, leaning utility poles, and any trees, gutters, or other objects that could be in contact with these electrical conduits. If you need to move to a safer location, keep both feet on the ground as you shuffle away from danger.
Be aware that a downed utility line can create a dangerous electrical arc that can travel through the air to reach a person standing nearby, even if they’re not physically touching it, and cause serious injury or death. If you see a downed power line or a damaged utility pole or generator, contact your local utility company ASAP.
Watch Out for Gas Leaks
Lightning strikes can damage gas lines and put you at risk of experiencing a fire or explosion. If you smell gas or hear hissing after a lightning strike, leave your house right away and take your friends, family members, and pets with you. Don’t try to find or fix the leak yourself.
As you’re evacuating, be cautious and avoid doing anything that could create a spark or fire, like using your landline or cell phone, flipping a light switch, or turning your electrical appliances on or off. Once you’re in a safe location at least 100 feet away from the suspected leak, call 911 and your gas company’s emergency line. Keep away from your house until the utility company confirms it’s safe to go back inside.
Assess Any Structural Damage
When lightning strikes your home, it can cause serious structural damage to your roof, framing, and electrical wiring. Be on the lookout for burnt areas and scorch marks inside and outside the house, smoke, broken shingles, chimney cracks, and damaged brick or stone.
A lightning-related power surge can also damage and discolor your electrical panel and lead to an electrical fire. If you see any signs of structural damage after lightning hits your house, have a professional electrician inspect your home right away.
Step 3: Shut Off Power Safely
If you’ve checked for signs of danger and feel confident it’s safe to do so, find the main breaker on your electrical panel and switch it to the “off” position to cut power to your home. If your panel is scorched, wet, smells like melting plastic, or shows other signs of damage, don’t touch it. Call an electrician to shut off the power, inspect your wiring, and make any necessary repairs.
Step 4: Unplug Electronics and Appliances
Once you’ve shut off power to your home, unplug your dry electronics and appliances to prevent secondary surge damage. If your devices are wet or in standing water, leave them alone and wait for an electrician to investigate the scene; touching plugged-in, wet appliances could put you at risk of electrocution.
Since a lightning strike can damage your electronics beyond repair, make note of items you may need to replace in case you want to make an insurance claim.
Step 5: Document All Damage
As soon as you know your home is safe, start documenting any damage to your property. Take photos and videos of all impacted areas to serve as visual evidence of the strike and make a detailed inventory of damaged items.
Look for signs of structural and electrical damage to your house. You should also hire contractors to provide repair estimates right away.
Keep all your documents and receipts for any repairs you make. Most homeowners insurance policies will cover fires and damage from lightning strikes and power surges. Check your policy, then contact your insurance agent for instructions on filing a claim.
Step 6: Get a Professional Inspection
Once you’ve taken the initial steps to recover from a lightning strike, schedule an electrical inspection to ensure your wiring is functional and safe to use. A licensed electrician will check your service panel, wiring and outlets, GFCI and AFCI breakers, and surge protection system for damage to protect your home from fire and electrical hazards.
If you suspect that your home has sustained fire or structural damage, you should also hire a contractor to inspect your roof and the rest of your house and recommend next steps.
Step 7: Protect Your Home from Future Strikes
If you live in a stormy region, you can prevent future storm-related damage by investing in a few safety upgrades to your home, such as:
Whole-Home Surge Protectors
Whole-home surge protectors protect the circuits in your house from power surges and voltage spikes. These systems prevent excess current from entering your electrical system by redirecting it into the ground.
Proper Grounding and Bonding
Grounding and bonding are protective measures that safely disperse electrical energy if lightning strikes your home. Grounding creates a low-resistance pathway between your home’s electrical system and the earth that can prevent a power surge from destroying your wiring and appliances. Bonding equalizes and stabilizes the voltage on conductors within your electrical system to reduce the risk of electric shock.
Lightning Rod Systems
Outdoor lightning rod systems can prevent structural and electrical damage by diverting the strike away from your home and redirecting its electricity into the ground.
FAQ – Lightning Strikes and Home Safety
Can lightning strike without leaving visible marks?
Lightning strikes can cause invisible damage such as internal injuries in people or wiring hidden behind walls if it moves quickly or passes through the ground.
How long after a lightning strike can electrical fires start?
A lightning strike can cause your home to ignite immediately, but it can also cause hidden damage to wiring and the structure of a house that leads to a fire starting several hours or days after the event.
Does homeowners insurance cover lightning damage?
Most homeowners insurance policies consider lightning to be a covered peril, meaning that the insurance company will reimburse you for lightning-induced damage to your house or belongings. The amount of compensation you receive may depend on the type of coverage you hold.
What’s the difference between a surge protector and a lightning arrester?
A lightning arrester protects your home from direct, high-voltage lightning strikes by diverting current into the ground, while surge protectors protect your home from lower-voltage power surges indirectly caused by lightning.
Protect Your Home: Schedule a Lightning Damage Evaluation Today
When lightning strikes your home, you need to act fast. Call Mister Sparky, Lakeland’s on-time electrician, to schedule a home inspection. We offer lightning strike evaluation services for homeowners in Lakeland, FL, and nearby areas.
Our licensed, insured professionals will take every step necessary to ensure your safety and protect your home against future damage. Remember, when it comes to ensuring the comfort and safety of your home, don’t put up with any malarky! Call Mister Sparky today!