You can be struck by lightning while showering or using any plumbing fixture during a thunderstorm. This serious safety risk is often dismissed as an urban legend, but the possibility is real because electrical energy travels through a structure. While a house provides shelter from a direct outdoor strike, the interior still contains conductive pathways that can carry a lightning charge inside. About one-third of lightning-strike injuries occur indoors, demonstrating that taking precautions within a home is a serious matter.
How Lightning Enters the Home
Lightning seeks the path of least resistance to reach the ground, and this path often involves utility connections extending into a building. The immense electrical charge from a nearby strike can couple into exterior utility lines, even if the strike does not hit the house directly. These lines include the electrical service wires, cable television lines, telephone wires, and metal pipes for water or gas that run underground.
The surge of energy travels along these conductive materials from the outside environment right into the home’s interior systems. Once the lightning current is inside, it can branch out, utilizing multiple pathways to complete its circuit to the earth. It is common for the current to jump between different conductive systems, such as from the electrical wiring to the water piping, in a phenomenon known as a side flash.
The Specific Risk of Water and Plumbing
The danger while showering arises because the plumbing system acts as a direct conduit for the electrical charge. The tap water delivered to your home is not pure; it contains dissolved minerals and impurities that make it a conductor of electricity. Therefore, the water flowing through the pipes and over your body can transmit a charge.
The primary risk comes from contact with the metal plumbing fixtures, such as the faucet handles, drains, and the showerhead assembly. These metal components are excellent conductors and are directly connected to the larger pipe network that runs outside the house. A lightning charge traveling through the water pipes can instantly energize these fixtures.
While modern homes often use plastic (PVC) pipes for some interior plumbing, metal components are still present. Being wet significantly reduces the body’s natural electrical resistance, increasing the risk of a severe or fatal shock if a fixture is energized.
Staying Safe Indoors During a Storm
The most effective safety measure during a thunderstorm is to avoid all contact with water and plumbing systems. This means refraining from showering, bathing, washing dishes, or doing laundry until the storm has completely passed. The danger persists for a period after the last visible lightning flash or thunderclap, so it is safest to wait 30 minutes before resuming water-based activities.
Beyond the plumbing, it is wise to stay away from other materials that can conduct electricity. Avoid using anything connected to an electrical outlet, such as computers or large appliances, as lightning can travel through the electrical system. Corded phones are also hazardous because the charge can travel through the phone line, though cordless and cell phones are safe to use.
Staying away from windows, doors, and concrete walls or floors is also recommended, as metal bars and wires within these structures can conduct a charge. The safest place indoors is away from any point of contact that extends from the outside into the building.