Thailand: Human and Livestock Dead After Thunderstorm

Severe weather can often form without any warning. In just the blink of an eye, a flash from a lightning bolt can damage homes, burn forests and even kill. Humans, however, aren’t the only victims of lightning strikes. Both wild animals and livestock around the world have lost their lives or been injured due to both direct lightning strikes and lightning currents in the ground.

On 26 April 2016, a thunderstorm killed one human, four pigs and 18 cows in the Nan and Phrae districts of Thailand.

The photo above shows the total lightning captured by Earth Networks Total Lightning Network over the regions of Nan and Phrae during the storm that took the lives mentioned above. The video below shows the lightning activity, which was heavier in Nan. In tambon Muang Chang, 18 cows were killed when lightning struck their pen at a Nithakorn farm.

Similarly, the four pigs in tambon Nanao were killed when lightning struck the trees directly behind their pens at least 10 times. The owner of the pig farm went out to feed them just as the storm began. When the storm passed, not only were four pigs dead but seven others were affected.

An elderly woman also died when she attempted to seek shelter under a tree in her orchard. The storm, consisting of heavy rains and winds, also caused damage to a total of 568 houses, one school, and 14 crop fields in Nan and Phrae.