Lightning hazard mitigation in Uganda

Abstract

This paper addresses a concurrent burning issue in Uganda; the mitigation of rapidly increasing lightning hazards in the country. By analyzing various economic, technical and social factors a feasible hazard mitigation module has been proposed. The module essentially needs government intervention for providing facilities and coordination of various contributors and stakeholders for channeling expertise and possible funding. Several lightning disaster mitigation strategies have been proposed whereas practicality and limitations of applying them in Uganda are discussed in detail. Proposed modules are applicable in many countries having similar socio economic environment.

An Assessment of Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Lightning Occurrence with Elevation, a Case of Uganda

“…Then, a reduced trend was observed from 2002 to 2007 followed by an increment in the number of lightning events in (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013). This trend is in agreement with [8], whose findings indicated increasing surprising worst cases of lightning strikes in Uganda. The intensity of lightning events decreased gradually over the study period although two peaks (1998-2001) and (2010-2013) were observed.…”

“…An increment in the number of lightning events was observed during the last years (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013) of the study period. This trend is in agreement with [8], whose findings indicated increasing surprising worst cases of lightning strikes in Uganda. Over the period of study, the frequency of lightning events has been increasing from 60 times in 1998 to approximately 200 times of lighting events in 2013 (Fig 5).…”

“…Furthermore, results indicate increases in the frequency and duration of lightning events from 60 times in 1998 to approximately 200 times of lighting events in 2013 and from 1000 microseconds in 1998 to more than 2000 microseconds in 2013. These results are alarming and have put Uganda on the hotspot list of lightning prone countries in the world according to [7,8]. It should be noted that these results are in agreement with [6,8] whose studies found a remarkable increase in the frequency and intensity of lightning accidents in the past few years in Uganda.…”

“…Lightning-related human injuries have become a grave problem in many parts of Africa for the past decade [6,7]. Among lightning affected countries in Africa, Uganda has recorded surprising worst cases of lightning in world history in the last decade where lightning incidents, including the death of 18 school children and their teacher in 2011 [8]. Based on the recent lightning strike incident assessment report carried out in Uganda, the frequency and intensity of lightning accidents have markedly been increasing in the past few years [8].…”

Lightning hazard safety measures and awareness in Bangladesh

“…The challenges faced by developed countries and developing countries are different. The challenges in developing countries are poverty, illiteracy, disorganized or uncoordinated nature of various institutions that directly responsible for lightning hazard mitigation, lack of modern equipment for accurate weather forecasting and lack of proper policies and standards (Mary et al, 2014). In developed countries like USA, the challenges of mitigating lightning fatalities include the willingness to cancel or postpone activities, the ability to be aware of an approaching or developing storm, the vulnerability of actual activity and the ability to get to a safe place quickly (Jensenius, 2016).…”