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Excerpt from the Dog
Dictionary:
THUNDER:
This is a signal that the world is coming to an end. Humans
remain amazingly calm during thunderstorms, so it is necessary to warn
them of the danger by trembling uncontrollably, panting, rolling your
eyes wildly, and following at their heels.
WASHINGTON,
IN (USA) — The
next time "Sport" decides to freak out in the middle of a
thunderstorm, he's got good reason. The lucky Beagle (or unlucky,
depending on if you're a glass-half-empty person) survived being
struck by lightning last Wednesday just outside his home in rural
Indiana.
According to the Washington
Times-Herald, lightning hit a tree and traveled through the
chain that was holding him, through the dog and into the
foundation of the house, blasting bricks 30 to 40 feet away.
Every appliance in the house had its cord blown out of the outlets.
"I let out a holler and then I couldn't see anything,"
says Sally Andis who was standing near the back door when the bolt
hit. "The sound was really loud, and I couldn't hear out of
my right ear. I was so disoriented... Everything looked like it
was in some kind of fog."
The heat of the lightning bolt left a charred ring around the tree
and melted through Sport's chain. Ms. Andis told reporters that
the little dog ran down to a nearby creek, possibly trying to get
water. When she found him, his fur was singed and his body felt
hot. He was panting and bleeding from one paw, but otherwise
unharmed, a veterinarian would later assure the family.
She says that Sport is now staying close to her and doesn't
want to go outside.
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Shocking Evidence
Sally Andis and Sport revisit the scene. There are four black paw
prints on the concrete outside the back door where Sport was standing when
he was struck by lightning. (Photo: Washington Times-Herald)
Each year, an average of 393 people in the U.S. are struck by
lightning, according to the National Weather Service, which has just
kicked off Lightning
Safety Awareness Week (Apr. 28 - May 4, 2002). Taking into
account the U.S. population of 278,058,881
(July 2001 est.), that makes your chances
of being struck by lightning about 1 in 707,529.
To put that in terms a dog can understand,
those are about the same odds of
catching your tail ...if you're a Rottweiler.
The Weather
Channel cites that a single bolt of lightning can reach temperatures
of 50,000°F, five times hotter than the surface of the sun.
And by the way...
if you're listening, Joey Whitlock (who called me a liar back in
back in the 5th grade): lightning does come up from the ground,
according to this animation designed by the National
Weather Service. I added the dog. |
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