The expo -Growth part 2
A lightning bolt incorporates, on average, approximately 50,000 Ampère when it strikes. For equivalence sake, a discharge of 500 milliamps, or 0.5 Ampère, is sufficient to halt a human's heart. So, in theory, a surge created by lightning can stop the hearts of 100,000 people, in one strike. So it's no wonder that approximately 24,000 people suffer fatal injuries by lightning annually.
In our case the discharge didn't hit a man, or a tree, it hit an antenna atop a building in the middle of the city. This wasn't unusual, because the antenna's top was highest amongst the building that surrounded it. During the winter, an estimate of 30 lightning strikes hit the structure, sometimes 3 to 4 times in a single storm. So the wiring at the base of the antenna was bound to malfunction eventually. Too bad it happened when it did.
A lightning bolt incorporates, on average, approximately 50,000 Ampère when it strikes. For equivalence sake, a discharge of 500 milliamps, or 0.5 Ampère, is sufficient to halt a human's heart. So, in theory, a surge created by lightning can stop the hearts of 100,000 people, in one strike. So it's no wonder that approximately 24,000 people suffer fatal injuries by lightning annually.
In our case the discharge didn't hit a man, or a tree, it hit an antenna atop a building in the middle of the city. This wasn't unusual, because the antenna's top was highest amongst the building that surrounded it. During the winter, an estimate of 30 lightning strikes hit the structure, sometimes 3 to 4 times in a single storm. So the wiring at the base of the antenna was bound to malfunction eventually. Too bad it happened when it did.