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Lightning Can Strike Twice!
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By
Wilson Johwa |
13/04/2004 |
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A promising yet fearful sight
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The
sight of dark cumulonimbus clouds building up over drought-prone areas of
Zimbabwe is enough to raise hopes of a better cropping season. In late October
when the first rains break, the long, dry months are quickly forgotten as the
sparse, golden brown stubbles of grass turn a resplendent green.
However,
the onset of the rainy season brings with it a frightening phenomenon that
claims dozens of lives until the season ends in April. Zimbabwe is one of the
world’s most lightning-prone countries: the holder of a world record in
lightning-related fatalities.
During
the rainy season, lightning strikes normally kill up to 100 people, mostly rural
children. Many more people are maimed and countless livestock lost.
Yet
the Meteorological Services Department of Zimbabwe says it is possible that
lightning deaths in the country might actually be under-reported by 20 to 30
percent and lightning injuries by more than 40 percent, as many deaths and
injuries go unreported.
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Lightning-related fatalities and injuries in Zimbabwe are usually recorded in rural areas
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“The
high number of lightning confirmation claims forwarded to the Department for
processing by property insurance companies, confirms that damage to equipment
supplying electric power and telecommunications services, as well as to business
and domestic premises is quite immense,” says meteorologist Desmond Manatsa.
Annual
Fatalities Average 90 to 120
Zimbabwe
has the uncanny distinction of being one of lightning’s most favorite places.
It is even cited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the country where a
single bolt of lightning claimed its largest number of victims. This occurred in
a village near the eastern border town of Mutare in 1975 when 21 people were
killed while sheltering in a hut.
The
majority of lightning-related fatalities and injuries in the country are usually
recorded in rural rather than urban areas. This is simply because large
buildings provide protection for those within due to the metal frame of the
building and specially designed lightning conductors. People in buses and cars
are also safe because of the metal frames around them.
Lightning
has continued to be a worrying blight in the country. For instance, it struck
and killed 10 people attending a church service on a Sunday afternoon in
November 2002. Sixty-one others attending the service in the town of
Chitungwiza, 35 kilometers south of the capital Harare, were hospitalized with
burns. The dead and injured were members of the Johane Masowe sect, the
country’s largest religious group, which normally conducts meetings in the
open air, often under trees.
So
far in the current season, 39 deaths attributed to lightning have been reported.
Police say most of the dead are children sheltering under trees.
Study
results released by the University of Zimbabwe in 1991 after research spanning
seven years showed that lightning fatalities in the country average 90 to 120
per annum. Of all the districts, Gutu, which is quite populous, led with about
10 fatalities per annum. Binga, Marondera and Rusape follow a long way behind
with three to four deaths per annum.
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Lightning strikes... again
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Amazingly,
lightning figures recorded in Zimbabwe (150,873 sq. miles- 390,761 sq. km.) were
higher than those recorded in the whole of the USA. (3,537,441 sq. miles-
9,161,972 sq. km.) where, according to the Lightning Safety Tips Board of
America, the phenomenon kills an average of 73 people per year.
Since
the surface area of Zimbabwe is many times smaller than that of the United
States, these statistics stick out prominently on the global scale. “Even when
comparing us to our neighboring South Africa, whose storms are just as fierce as
ours, we still find that it has a record of a total of 400 fatalities in 10
years,” Manatsa says.
Abundant
Granite Outcrops
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Zimbabwe's abundant granite outcrops may be one reason behind the country's high lightning toll
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The
high lightning toll in Zimbabwe can be explained by the prevalence of granite
outcrops all
over
the country.
The
University of Zimbabwe established that granite is radioactive and discharges
gamma rays up to the cloud, thus ionizing the air molecules. Abundant granite
outcrops, together with soot from the numerous kitchen huts, offer the
much-needed opposite charge on the ground, while tall objects offer the easiest
route for electrical discharges to steer its way to the ground.
Manatsa
says a point was also found in the Rhino and Lion Game Reserve in northeastern
South Africa where lightning struck repeatedly and had been doing so since the
beginning of time. Here, unusually high concentrations of dolomite rock draw 15
lightning strikes a month. In 1996, lightning struck and killed an 18-foot
(5,5m) tall giraffe while standing on a hill in the reserve. A year later,
lightning electrocuted his mate. Shortly afterwards, lightning struck and
injured a young giraffe in the park. Consequently, the reserve sold its last
giraffe in 1998 and turned down more.
An
additional explanation of the high number of deaths attributable to lightning is
the effect deforestation has had on leaving huts and standing people as the
highest objects around.
The
Zimbabwe power corporation has, as a result, designed a simple, cheap lightning
conductor to protect huts and small buildings.
Traditional
Beliefs
The
high lightning incidence in Zimbabwe has its own traditional explanations. Among
the Shona-speaking people, the traditional belief is that healers can control
the phenomenon, directing it to foes as they please.
Samuel
Moyana is one such traditionalist who believes lightning is not just a force of
nature. He says lightning does not kill anyone without having been sent by an
adversary. “God’s lightning, which is normally accompanied by a storm,"
he explains, "does not attack people but will strike a tree.”
Addition
from Editor:
"It
is He Who doth show you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope: It is He
Who doth raise up the clouds, heavy with (fertilising) rain!" (Qur'an
13:12)
Also
read what IslamOnline's team of Islamic scholars say about black magic:
Immunity
and Protection against Black Magic
Black
Magic
Sources:
Meteorological
Services Department of Zimbabwe.
Encyclopedia
Zimbabwe, page 218
*
Wilson Johwa is an independent journalist and photographer based in Zimbabwe. You can reach him at: wilsonjohwa@yahoo.com .
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