**8. African Centres for lightning and electromagnetics network, Inc.**

The African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics Network (https:// ACLENet.org) is a pan-African network of national centers dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries, and property damage from lightning across Africa [1]. It was formed with multiple goals in mind (**Table 4**). Among its many activities, ACLENet is attempting to establish an injury and damage database by collecting news reports for each of the countries in Africa and working with citizen reporters to document injuries and deaths as well as property damage [23].

The majority of lightning deaths can be avoided if there are "lightning-safe" areas to evacuate to, if good weather forecasts and warning systems are available to the public, and if individuals have been educated in actions they can take to avoid injury [1, 17, 18]. Almost none of these are available to the vast majority of sub-Saharan Africans, particularly in rural areas, leaving entire families at risk 24/7/365 whether they are working in their fields, walking to the market, cooking near their homes, worshipping, or in school [1]. Children in school tend to be at particular risk because typical classes have about 50 children packed into classrooms that are not protected and are not lightning-safe [1, 42].

In June 2011, 18 children were killed by one lightning strike with another 38 children injured and transported to the hospital from Runyanya Primary School in Kiryandongo, Uganda [78]. Prior to this incident, the head teacher related that


#### **Table 4.** *Modified from Cooper et al. [1] (©MACooper).*

the school had 600 pupils attending. After the incident, parents were afraid to send their children, and children were afraid to attend school where they had seen their friends die. The enrollment fell to under 400. Children cannot learn if they are anxious about being killed every time dark clouds roll across the sky. After lightning protection was installed at the school by ACLENet, the head teacher related that enrollment climbed to over 1100 [79].

Perhaps more alarming than deaths is the fact that lightning is survivable but can leave survivors with permanent disabilities that make adults unable to return to work to support themselves and their families and children less able to learn in school to become contributing, productive citizens [5, 16, 55, 75, 76]. As with any significant disability, the family suffers at least as much as the survivor does, and the economic impact to the family can be great.

In addition to deaths and disabling injuries to people, lightning often destroys livestock, the main source of income and wealth for many families in developing countries (**Figure 9**) [40]. Sometimes these incidents are reported by the media, but there is little reliable data on total livestock deaths or on damage to infrastructure such as utilities, mining, agriculture, and other industries. Additionally, the hundreds of languages in Africa confound good data gathering.

The effects of lightning damage to property has not only direct effects on the structure but also indirect economic effects including food spoilage from lack of refrigeration after electrical failure, electrical parts and repairs unaffordable or not available for days, hospitals without power, and expensive, nearly irreplaceable electronics damaged along with their databases and records [1, 40, 80]. It is estimated that aggregate economic losses to unprotected installations, both due to damage and downtime, will grow exponentially as a result of the explosive growth in usage of electronics, the extension of national power grids into rural areas, and mushrooming communication towers across Africa [35, 81–83]. Lightning damage to infrastructure occurs in countries that can ill afford more economic threats due to already struggling with issues such as drought, HIV, underemployment, or civil strife.

In developed countries, lightning damage is almost always covered by insurance. However, in Africa, studies indicate lack of penetration of insurance across the African continent. Conservative estimates put the extent of insurance coverage at as little as 3.5% of the potential African market [84]. For public health threats like lightning, lack of insurance can be devastating. In Africa, emergency response and medical care to victims without health insurance is limited or nonexistent. Businesses without insurance coverage may be forced to close.

Two stories illustrate the outcome lack of insurance coverage for lightning events can cause:

**121**

**Figure 10.**

*Mitigating the Hazard of Lightning Injury and Death across Africa*

1.Reported on October 17, 2019, 11 head of cattle belonging to 1 farmer were killed by lightning at Mboza in northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, leaving the farmer unable to provide for his family as cattle farming was his only means of

2.When a community radio station in northern Uganda was hit by lightning destroying a major part of their infrastructure and equipment, lack of insurance

The African Centres for Lighting and Electromagnetics Network (ACLENet https://ACLENet.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to decreasing deaths, injuries, and property damage from lightning across Africa. It seeks to change the toll of lightning across Africa (**Table 4**) by addressing lightning from many aspects:

1.Establishing a database of news reports of injuries and property damage and encouraging individuals and the media to report them so that the impact of lightning on each nation's citizens and economy can be assessed [23].

2.Educating the public on how lightning occurs, mechanisms of injury, and what individuals can do to protect themselves and their families [63, 87]. Due to extensive public education with involvement of the media, U.S. lightning deaths have decreased from over 100/year to less than 30/year for the past decade [17, 18, 62]. Fortunately, all the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lightning safety materials, curricula for schools, games, animations, posters, and public service announcements are free to download and use from the website [41]. Further, the authors of most of these materials are willing to work with African lightning safety advocates to "Africanize" the settings, languages, and idioms (personal com-

3.Protecting schools with code-compliant designs ([52], **Figure 10**). If children and teachers feel secure from lightning injury, they are more likely to attend school and continue their studies despite thunderstorms. One of the schools

*Installation of lightning protection system at a typical classroom building at Runyanya school, Uganda. Details:* 

*(A) air terminal; (B) down conductor; and (C) ground terminal or "earthing ring." (©ACLENet).*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90468*

forced it to close down [86].

subsistence [85].

munications).

**Figure 9.** *Cattle killed by lightning in South Africa. (photo courtesy Ian Jandrell).*

*Mitigating the Hazard of Lightning Injury and Death across Africa DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90468*

*Public Health in Developing Countries - Challenges and Opportunities*

enrollment climbed to over 1100 [79].

the economic impact to the family can be great.

hundreds of languages in Africa confound good data gathering.

gling with issues such as drought, HIV, underemployment, or civil strife.

Businesses without insurance coverage may be forced to close.

*Cattle killed by lightning in South Africa. (photo courtesy Ian Jandrell).*

In developed countries, lightning damage is almost always covered by insurance. However, in Africa, studies indicate lack of penetration of insurance across the African continent. Conservative estimates put the extent of insurance coverage at as little as 3.5% of the potential African market [84]. For public health threats like lightning, lack of insurance can be devastating. In Africa, emergency response and medical care to victims without health insurance is limited or nonexistent.

Two stories illustrate the outcome lack of insurance coverage for lightning events

the school had 600 pupils attending. After the incident, parents were afraid to send their children, and children were afraid to attend school where they had seen their friends die. The enrollment fell to under 400. Children cannot learn if they are anxious about being killed every time dark clouds roll across the sky. After lightning protection was installed at the school by ACLENet, the head teacher related that

Perhaps more alarming than deaths is the fact that lightning is survivable but can leave survivors with permanent disabilities that make adults unable to return to work to support themselves and their families and children less able to learn in school to become contributing, productive citizens [5, 16, 55, 75, 76]. As with any significant disability, the family suffers at least as much as the survivor does, and

In addition to deaths and disabling injuries to people, lightning often destroys livestock, the main source of income and wealth for many families in developing countries (**Figure 9**) [40]. Sometimes these incidents are reported by the media, but there is little reliable data on total livestock deaths or on damage to infrastructure such as utilities, mining, agriculture, and other industries. Additionally, the

The effects of lightning damage to property has not only direct effects on the structure but also indirect economic effects including food spoilage from lack of refrigeration after electrical failure, electrical parts and repairs unaffordable or not available for days, hospitals without power, and expensive, nearly irreplaceable electronics damaged along with their databases and records [1, 40, 80]. It is estimated that aggregate economic losses to unprotected installations, both due to damage and downtime, will grow exponentially as a result of the explosive growth in usage of electronics, the extension of national power grids into rural areas, and mushrooming communication towers across Africa [35, 81–83]. Lightning damage to infrastructure occurs in countries that can ill afford more economic threats due to already strug-

**120**

**Figure 9.**

can cause:


The African Centres for Lighting and Electromagnetics Network (ACLENet https://ACLENet.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to decreasing deaths, injuries, and property damage from lightning across Africa. It seeks to change the toll of lightning across Africa (**Table 4**) by addressing lightning from many aspects:


#### **Figure 10.**

*Installation of lightning protection system at a typical classroom building at Runyanya school, Uganda. Details: (A) air terminal; (B) down conductor; and (C) ground terminal or "earthing ring." (©ACLENet).*

protected by ACLENet has written detailing that the surrounding community now feels safe to use the school as a meeting place since it was protected [88]. Effective lightning safety education and behavior change for communities begins with children in so many ways!

