Lightning Strikes During Easter Mass in Tanzania

Lightning struck in an assembly of Easter mass church goers as regional storms push through the Chato and Geita districts of Tanzania. There were 18 people injured and another 5 killed by lightning strikes as they attended the Tanzania Assemblies of God.

All too often, Tanzania citizens have become accustomed to people and livestock being injured or killed by storms that produce severe cloud-to-ground lightning. “Incidents of lightning that end up killing many people are very common in western Tanzania’s regions of Kigoma, Kagera, Geita, Rukwa and Katavi,” stated Pastor Deus Mhangwa.

Real-time forecast, nowcast and alerting capabilities are now available as a result of the Lake Victoria pilot project that provide technologically advanced atmospheric monitoring systems and tools.  The National Meteorological Services of Tanzania are important partners in this effort to provide early warning solutions to the region.

Example synthetic radar and visualization tool below: