Lightning threats in Nepal: occurrence and human impacts (original) (raw)

Effects of lightning as a disaster in Himalayan region

Bibechana, 2021

In Nepal, the main disasters are floods, lightning, fire, epidemics, and landslides. Among the several disasters in the Himalayan region, lightning is an important one. Because of the short distance (about 160 km) between the low land and peak Mount Everest from South to North, there is a variation of about 950C temperature in these regions. The topographical features of the southern slopes and variation of temperature within this short distance influences the features of lightning and in this scenario, we get the positive cloud to ground lightning frequently which is more dangerous for human beings, animals, and property. In the Himalayan region, thunderstorms occur near the mountains due to which more positive charge can easily transfer from cloud to ground. Hence positive lightning occurs in the Himalayan region. The majority of the lightning-affected people are unaware of lightning safety and they should know the measures to protect life and property from lightning hazards. Henc...

The major lightning regions and associated casualties over India

Natural Hazards, 2020

Lightning, a climate-related highly localized natural phenomenon, claims lives and damage properties. These losses could only be reduced by the identification of active seasons and regions of lightning. The present study identifies and correlates the lightning-prone regions with the number of casualties reported over India at the state/union territory level. The seasonal and monthly composite satellite data of Lightning Imaging Sensor for the duration of 16 years (1998-2013) have been analyzed in this study for the identification of the major lightning-prone seasons and regions over India. The casualties due to lightning have also been estimated using data from Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India, National Crime Record Bureau report of India. The spatial distribution analysis reveals that lightning occurs mostly in hilly regions over India throughout the year (26 flash/sq. km/yr) and, however, causes lesser casualties because of the sparse population over the hilly terrain. The seasonal analysis reveals the most lightning phenomena occur during the pre-monsoon period (40-45 flash/sq. km/yr) over the northeast region of India. During the winter period, the lightning dominates over the northern parts of India such as Jammu and Kashmir. The state-wise casualties' study reveals that maximum casualties are reported in Madhya Pradesh (313 deaths), Maharashtra (281 deaths) and Orissa (255 deaths) on an average per annum. The favorable climatic conditions, such as availability of moisture content, unstable atmosphere and strong convection, cause severe cases of lightning over the regions of Orissa and Maharashtra.

Satellite-based observation of lightning climatology over Nepal

Journal of Earth System Science

The lightning climatology over Nepal is analysed in detail for the first time. For the analysis, we utilised the satellite-based lightning imaging sensor data for the period from 1998 to 2013. A comparison of these climatological results is also performed with two ground-based lightning detection networks, namely, the World Wide Lightning Location Network and the Global Lightning Network for 3 yr from 2011 to 2013. On analysing the data obtained from the three sources, we conclude that the months of April and May are extremely vulnerable in the perspective of lightning hazards in Nepal, in contrast to the results reported previously which indicated that the maximum lightning activity occurred in the month of June. The central and eastern regions of the country receive the majority of lightning strikes during the months of April and May. The present finding is supported by the thunderstorm frequency data obtained from the disaster Information Management System, Nepal and also from thunder-day data from NOAA.

Recent Lightning-related fatalities and injuries in Bangladesh

A database of lightning-related deaths and injuries in Bangladesh was developed from 1990 to mid-2016 from a variety of sources that contains a total of 5,468 casualties, comprised of 3,086 fatalities and 2,382 injuries. Spatial, temporal, and demographic aspects of these lightning casualties are evaluated in order to aid relevant entities in effective management of lightning-related meteorological hazards. The annual averages for Bangladesh are 114 fatalities and 89 injuries over the entire period. Weighting by population reveals a fatality rate of 0.92 per million people per year and an injury rate of 0.71. In contrast, the latest six years have a fatality rate of 1.6 and injury rate of 1.4. The rural portion of lightning fatalities is 93%. Most fatalities occurred between early morning (0600 LST) and early evening (2000). Through the year, more fatalities occur during the pre-monsoon season of March through May than during the monsoon season (June – September). The inter-annual time series of fatalities indicates an increase since the late 2000s which is a result of greatly improved communications leading to better media reporting of lightning casualties. Bangladesh has also become much more populous in recent years. As a result, the most recent six years have 251 fatalities per year that may be considered as the current estimate. The majority of lightning-related deaths occurred to males. Farming is the major activity at the time of lightning fatalities, followed by being inside a dwelling, and returning home or walking around homesteads/courtyards.

Fatalities related to lightning occurrence and agriculture in Bangladesh

International Journl of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2019

Large numbers of Bangladesh lightning fatalities during the pre-monsoon season have resulted in speculation about causes for this annual event. The present study addresses the situation with lightning occurrence, lightning fatality, and agricultural data. Of the 1,434 lightning deaths from 2013 to 2017 in Bangladesh, an average of 1.73 deaths occur per day in the pre-monsoon season, 0.71 in the monsoon, and very small averages in other seasons. More than half of the deaths are related to agriculture. Population-weighted fatality rates are large in several northeastern districts. Lightning fatalities are frequent in April and especially May during both morning and afternoon. Based on 37.2 million strokes from the Global Lightning Dataset GLD360 network over Bangladesh from 2013 to 2017, lightning is also most frequent in the northeast from mid-April through early June at all hours of the day. Several districts with large lightning stroke densities and fatality rates are the same as with the greatest farming participation. A common crop is Boro rice harvested during April and May in several districts with frequent lightning. As a result, temporal and spatial connections exist among lightning fatalities and occurrence, and agricultural workers. This study identifies the lightning fatality maximum during the pre-monsoon season as frequent lightning coincident with labor-intensive agricultural practices in specific locations. As a result, measures can be taken to address the underlying lightning vulnerability. Additionally, agricultural studies at the times and locations identified here need further exploration. The final steps are to provide meteorological warnings and lightning-safe locations for the most vulnerable population.

Distribution of Lightning Accidents in Sri Lanka from 1974 to 2019 using the DesInventar Database

International Journal of Geo-Information (ISSN 2220-9964), 2021

The reported lightning accidents that are available in the DesInventar database-which consist of 549 deaths, 498 injured people, 39 destroyed houses, and 741 damaged houses-were analyzed in terms of their geographical and temporal variation. The average lightning flash densities were calculated using zonal statistics using the geographic information system (GIS), referring to the respective raster maps generated based on Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) data from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Satellite. Hence, the variations of the lightning accidents monthly and climate season-wise-in response to the lightning flash density were also reported. The calculated average lightning flash density in Sri Lanka is 8.26 flashes km-2 year-1 , and the maximum average lightning flash density of 31.33 flashes km-2 year-1 is observed in April in a calendar year. April seems to be more vulnerable to lightning accidents, as the maximum number of deaths (150 deaths) and injuries (147 injuries) were recorded in this month. Most of the high-risk lightning accident regions that were identified in Sri Lanka are well known for agricultural activities , and those activities will eventually create the platform for lightning victims. In Sri Lanka, in a year, 12 people were killed and 11 people were injured, based on the reported accidents from 1974 to 2019. Conversely, a substantial increase in the number of deaths, injuries, and incidents of property damage has been observed in the last two decades (2000-2019). On average, for the period from 2000 to 2019, 18 people were killed and 16 people were injured per year. Furthermore, considering the population of the country, 0.56 people per million per year were killed, and 0.51 people per million per year were injured due to lightning accidents based on the reported accidents from 1974 to 2019. Moreover, for the 2000-2019 period, these estimated values are significantly higher; 0.86 people per million per year were killed, and 0.77 people per million per year were injured.

SPATIO-TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF LIGHTNING INDUCED FATALITIES AND INJURIES IN BANGLADESH

Jagannath University Journal of Life and Earth Sciences, 2019

This study was aimed to analyse the spatio-temporal variation of lightning induced fatalities and injuries during the year of 2012 to 2016 in Bangladesh. Moreover, lightning related relevant information like occurring places, seasonal and diurnal frequency, gender and occupation of the affected people are also being investigated under this study. Data and information were collected from three widely circulated national dailies of Bangladesh, other government sources and research institutes. Collected data and information have compiled and cross-checked avoiding overlapping and inconsistency. Data analysis and mapping has been done using SPSS, MS Excel programs and ArcGIS software. This study revealed that total 1002 fatalities and 613 injuries occurred during the observed period in Bangladesh. The yearly average rate of lightning induced fatalities and injuries was about 200 and 123 respectively. Lightning associated fatalities and injureis have found in all districts of the country except Barguna. The highest number of fatalities was identified in the Sunamganj District. This study also mentioned that most of the lightning induced fatalities and injuries happened during the morning and noon, and most of them were male. Furthermore, it was also identified that farmers, day labours and fishermen account more than 60 percent of the total fatalities and injuries.

Lightning Fatalities and Injuries in Bangladesh from 1990 through 2017

2018

National summaries of lightning-related deaths and injuries are very difficult to obtain in many developing countries. For Bangladesh, Dewan et al. [2017] identified 3,086 fatalities and 2,382 injuries from 1990 to mid-2016, for annual averages of 114 fatalities and 89 injuries over the entire period. This paper updates Dewan et al. (2017) with another 18 months of recent data through 2017. The latest eight years have a fatality rate of 2.08 per million people per year and injury rate of 1.7. The rural attribution is 93%, the majority of deaths occur to males, and farming is the major activity. An increase since the late 2000s in part results from greatly improved communications leading to better media reporting of casualties because of a major increase in cellular telephone usage. The totals from 2010 to 2017 of 260 fatalities and 211 injuries per year may be considered as the current estimate. Keywords—Bangladesh, lightning fatalities, data collection.