Lightning

Remember I told you the story of talented and witty Lee Trevino and how he got struck by lightning in 1975 at a tourney? He quipped later: "In case of a storm, stand in the middle of the fairway and hold up a one-iron. Not even God can hit a one iron."

Singapore has one of the world's highest rates of lightning strikes. We are world class and in the world cup. You can tell people that we are famous for this too. Deaths from lightning strikes here is 0.35 deaths for every one million people from 2000 to 2003, higher than Britain's 0.2 but lower than the USA's 0.6. April/May and November/December are the worst periods with April and November the most dangerous. We read about golfers getting struck by lightning, divers drowning or badly hurt by quick ascend, plane crashes, H1N1 and frankly speaking going to work is dangerous! Someone can just give you the bonkers!

Dangers lurk and abound at every corner so to speak, there are Chinese, Vietnamese ladies everywhere and even the Internet can be dangerous to children. So what shall we do? Where do we hide? Do you know that sitting down, doing nothing or sitting down, gambling, drinking and smoking can also kill - albeit slowly. If we treat ourselves like children at an appropriate age then we either tell ourselves that there are no violence or evil in the world or we arm ourselves with information and knowledge of such things so that we can make informed choices and decisions. Frankly, you can train in all fire drills but when you are trapped in a real deal big fire you can be "testicularly" challenged and forgot everything you learned.

Singapore Clubs

By now, all Singapore golf clubs either have their own lightning detection system or are subscribed to the MET station. Once lightning is detected or high lightning possibility in the clouds build up are detected and is within 5km range, the golf course would be closed. The siren is sounded to warn all golfers to stop play immediately and to take cover. Marshalls are sent out with sirens blazing on top of their buggies. Sometimes, you will still see some golfers wanting to at least finished the hole before stopping or some just ignore it and continue playing till the marshalls arrived to usher them away. Please follow the below link to my previous article on this similar issue and the details.

http://gforce-guru.blogspot.com/2009/05/if-you-intend-to-shoot-your-age-read-on.html


Overseas

Overseas clubs popular with Singaporeans are largely in Malaysia mainly Johor and in in Batam or Bintan. Many clubs there do not have lightning detection systems. Theirs are based on manual anticipation and decided by the club manager when to close the course. This just means that lightning may strike you then they decide to close the course. Mmmm....

Common Sense and How Do You Tell?

Common sense dictates that you should live to fight another day. Some golfers may feel that since you have paid up so much for the green and buggy fee it is such a waste since golf clubs do not give refunds once you have teed off. Or they may give you only a nine-hole rain check with unfavourable terms and limited play dates.

How do you tell of the dangers of lightning? Local clubs take this seriously so heed the warnings of the club announcements, listen for the sirens and take cover as soon as possible. Taking cover means returning to the clubhouse or hide at the nearest designated shelter. Weather forecast and even the best lightning warning system is not fool-proofed. Watch out for the birds. When no birds are in sight, they stop flying around, there is possible danger. No rain does not mean no lightning. When the rain has stopped do not go in to play till you hear the start siren or the marshall to come. The first sign after rain and lightning has stopped is that you will see the birds starting to fly around, chirping again and they dare to come out into the open to look for worms. If there are dogs around, the dogs too will come out to play. Do a test the next time you are out. At the first sight of lightning, start counting immediately by saying one thousand, two thousand and continue until you hear thunder. Every one thousand you have counted is a second of lapse which is approximately equal to one kilometre of distance from the lightning. From 5km or less, scramble and get the hell out!

How Do You Know When Lightning Is About To Strike And What Can You Do?

It is difficult to survive a direct strike. Many people do not know that you do not need a direct strike to get maimed. Lightning can hit a swimming pool, the sea or wet ground to get to you. There was a postmortem of a lightning victim and they found that the body was burnt only from the lower torso which clearly suggested the lightning travelled through the ground.

When lightning is overhead and about to strike, you will feel a strange sensation of all your hair standing - not just the hair from your head but all over your body, like a hair-raising experience. This is due static electricity. It's no use running as in an open space you are the tallest and clearest conductor. If you are holding a club, drop it immediately. Next, get down quickly to the ground lying to your side in crouch position and coil up by rolling your legs up and hold them there using your arms just like a ball.

This will minimize damage and could save your life as it would prevent lightning from striking you directly and going through your entire body. Stay away from wire fences, metal objects. Do not use the telephone or mobile phone. Stay away from tall trees. In open areas, take cover in low lying areas. Do not stay in the buggy. Leave the soccer field, if you are at sea doing sea sports or fishing, get back to shore. Get out of the swimming pool. They don't do sirens in these place. Oh, make sure you have the club and all emergency numbers on standby. If you know a trick or two about resuscitation, it will surely be of help too.

Those who are experts in this field, please feel free to comment and add further advice.