South East Queensland has been hit by more than 3.5 million lightning strikes in the past three weeks, compared to just 38,000 strikes at the same time last year.
The Ergon Energy figures capture the ferocity of the thunderstorms between December 15 and January 1, in which six people were injured by lightning.
“Extremely humid and unstable conditions across eastern Australia can play a part in the cause of the lightning,” a Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson said.
“Troughs moving through the areas in the past week have been largely responsible for triggering severe storms.”
Over the weekend, Queensland Ambulance Service transported two patients to hospital after being struck by lightning within hours of each other, one while inside a car at Burpengary on the Bruce Highway and one in Eudlo while on an excavator.
In late December, two patients were taken to Mareeba Hospital in a serious condition after being hit while at a private residence.
In mid-December, a 10-year-old girl was taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a critical condition after being struck — the following day a man was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital after he was struck in Biggera Waters.
What is lightning and how often does it strike?
Lightning is an electrical discharge that happens within and between clouds, but also from clouds to the ground and into the atmosphere.
Grant Kirkby from Lightning and Surge Technologies said the frequency and risk of strikes was often underestimated.
“Forget all the myths you hear, lightning does strike the same place and it strikes fairly regularly,” he said.
“Places like Centre Point Tower in Sydney gets struck, I think, on average 28 times a year.
“Your Q1 building in Queensland gets struck several times a year … you don’t know where the next strike is.”
Mr Kirkby — who has worked in lightning protection services for more than 20 years — said while it was rare for people to be struck directly, there was still a significant risk of injury and death.
“This is one of the biggest fallacies out there, only three to five per cent of all statistics are people that are struck directly,” he said.
“The majority of the injury and fatality statistics are from people that have been exposed to indirect strikes [when] the ground becomes highly electrified from a nearby lightning strike or if you’re touching something which has been electrified.”
Protection from the surge
On the Fraser Coast, north of Brisbane, five of Aaron Broom’s cattle were killed in a storm on December 30.
Sharing the loss on social media, he said he had never seen anything like it before.
“Poor buggers were in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Just glad there wasn’t more huddled up in the weather,” he said.
Mr Kirkby said it was an example of how the ground can become electrified across vast areas.
“In the Norwegian National Park a couple of years ago … lightning struck and electrified the ground, and 323 reindeer fell over and died,” he said.
“We’re talking about a significant amount of energy … it really is a significant issue that people just don’t necessarily understand.
“It’s probably one of the most frequent catastrophic risks that we’re going to face … if we draw that unlucky lottery ticket where we’re a little bit closer than the next person, we can find ourselves in a life-changing event.”
How can I avoid being struck by lightning?
Mr Kirkby said the safest place to be during a storm is indoors, as building standards require lightning protection and grounding systems to mitigate the damage.
“The worst place to be is to shelter under a tree, 13 per cent of all lightning fatalities occur in people that have sought shelter under a tree,” he said.
“Golf courses, soccer ovals, sporting events — where you’re the highest object in a relatively flat section of ground — will present [a] greater exposure to risk.
“You really need to be indoors in a substantial building.”
