Excerpt from
THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS

I am originally from Mont Blanc, Arkansas, where most lightning injuries and fatalities occur between May and September.

It’s hard to understand when lightning will strike. In order for it to travel from cloud to ground, it has to move through the air, which is a poor conductor. The reason lightning tends to hit tall objects is because lightning usually follows the shortest distance from cloud to ground. In the simplest terms, lightning is produced between the negative charge in a storm cloud and the positive charge on the ground. It’s like a battery, a+ and a-connecting.

When I lived in Mont Blanc, eight cows fell dead when lightning struck the metal fence they were standing against. Still, I didn’t take lightning seriously until it took my mom, who didn’t deserve to die. I think I suffer survivor’s guilt.