This is for those things that could be phrased, "What if..."

Okay, you are out in the woods and a thunderstorm comes up. What do you do?

There are some misconceptions about this one. First, if you are on or near water, get to dry ground immediately. (This includes if you are on moist soil.) A Lightning strike even some distance away can be carried by the mosture. So if at all possible, get in a dry location, or as dry as possible, and standing on a log is better than standing on soil.

Second, lightning WILL strike the same tree twice. If a tree has been struck, do not use it for shelter. If you are in a clearing, get out of the clearing and under the shelter of trees. Yes, lightening will strike trees, but that is because they are the tallest objects. If you are in a clearing, you become the tallest object in the clearing, and that is not a good thing. If you can get inside of a cave, do it, however stand near the entrance so you have an escape route.

And it ain't just trees: there is a U.S. forest ranger who has been hit 7 times and lived to tell about it.

__________________
Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control;
these three alone lead one to sovereign power.
Tennyson

There is a deputy sherrif that has been repeatedly struck as well, but that actually does make sense, since people produce a weak electrical field. Lightning is attracted to electrical fields. This is the reason why, in an electric storm, inside of a watch tower, all electrical devices are turned off.

But the point is that the wives tale has it that lightning won't strike the same tree twice, and it will indeed...sometimes multiple times in the same storm.

If I may add - remove all metal and pile it away from where you are as well. Earings, rings, watches, belts (metal belt buckles) and the one most people forget - glasses. There were some guys out hiking when a lightening storm struck. They all took off there metal, sat on there backpacks - only one died. The man who forgot to take off his glasses - metal rims.

This was reinforced for me when I passed through hot wire on a rainy day wearing my glasses. I made contact with the hotwire and whoooooeeeee! I felt the currant move through the rims and saw nothing then pure white light. It took a little bit to come back completely to myself and that was with a small current of electricity!

This is for sure. In watch towers, not only are they told to remove anything with metal from their person, and this includes coins, glasses, BELT BUCKLES, but all electric equipment is shut off. Most people probably wouldn't think about things like digital clocks, but they can cause grief. Even if they pick up just static electricity from the storm, that can be painful!