An average of 51 people die each year in Cuba due to the impact of rays, according to specialized sources. This keeps thunderstorms such as the most fatal meteorological phenomenon on the island.
Between 1987 and 2023, those killed by this cause rose to 1892, according to explained to the press Neobil Vega Batista, Head of the Department of Instrumental and Technological Development, of the Institute of Geodesia and Astronomy (IGA).
The expert considered that the figures remain “very high”, although “there is a general tendency to its decrease.” In this regard, he said that in the previous three decades – those of 1990, 2000 and 2010 – the annual averages of the deaths were 69, 56 and 37, respectively.
Previous data, released In 2020, the annual average of deaths from that cause between 1987 and 2017, period in which 1742 deaths were reported in 54.
Then it was pointed out that summer is the most fatal station of the year, because the high heating of the air in contact with the earth makes the rays more frequent. As for the months, Julio had the largest record of death, followed by August and June.
In addition, on that occasion it was stressed that deaths from electric shocks “exceed the number of human losses left by hurricanes, tornadoes, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding events.”
Steps for risk reduction
As for economic losses, Vega Batista said that “they are significant, but not all quantifiable”, so he recommended evaluating “their impact on equipment, possibility of replacement and for processes paralysis.”
The specialist, who leads the project “Early Warning System and Studies of Vulnerabilities and Disaster Risks, associated with thunderstorms in Cuba”, recommended the application of five main steps to manage risk reduction in these cases.
These are: knowing their general characteristics, identifying their proximity to the region where we are, evaluating the points of possible impact and conductivity routes, as well as the affectations in the environment and its consequences, and selecting the optimal place to protect us.
Lightning is the most visible phenomenon of thunderstorms in the troposphere, below 12 kilometers high, and due to its destructive nature it can cause deaths and trigger losses of heritage and technological disasters, the journalistic text refers.
Cuban specialists recommend the population, among other measures to follow the so-called “Rule 30-30”, which is necessary to seek refuge in a safe place if less than 30 seconds are counted from lightning light until thunder is heard.
It also stipulates that it is safe to leave the shelter only after past 30 minutes from the last thunder, since many deaths from rays occur after the strongest stage of the storm.
If they are surprised by a storm in the street, experts advise looking for a roof or staying in the car, the safest option.
It is necessary to leave the sea, pool or river immediately. In the open field they warn people who must move away from the trees and stand on squatting, with their heads on the knees and covered ears. Sports should not be practiced on open land, riding a horse or talking on the phone.
Only in the present August several deaths from ray impact have been reported. At the beginning of the month Three teenagers lost their lives in Manicaragua, Villa Clara, and A few days later The deadly victim was a 42 -year -old woman in the Matancero municipality of Colón.
