Lightning Safety Awareness Week

The week of June 19-25 marks Lightning Safety Awareness Week.

Lightning is a violent discharge of electrical energy caused by rapid atmospheric changes. This discharge has enough power to destroy anything in its path.

Lightning often accompanies severe weather events and due to its unpredictable nature, should be considered extremely dangerous.

In addition to lightning, high winds, heavy rains, and hail often accompany large storm systems affecting our area. These large weather systems can spread their destruction across our state impacting our members. At times the damages are widespread or isolated to a small area.

Inspecting your facilities to make sure they are prepared for a storm may prevent damage or minimize the impact. Our inspection checklist describes this important practice.

The calm that follows significant storms is also the perfect time to inspect your roofs for damage and to prevent any future damage from obstructed drainage systems or openings in roofing materials.

Questions? Contact an Ohio School Plan risk management representative for more information.

The National Weather Service has compiled several resources on its website to better protect you from lightning and other severe weather events. Remember the safest place during any severe weather event is in a fully enclosed structure.