It’s National Severe Weather Awareness Week, and today’s focus is lightning safety.

Adair and Guthrie County Emergency Management Deputy Coordinator Jeremy Cooper says over 25 million lightning strikes are recorded across the nation every year. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio that many of those strikes can end in fatalities.

“On average, in the United States, 20 people die a year, and in Iowa, we rank, over the last decade, around the 21st to 30th percentile in the nation for injuries and deaths from lightning.”

Cooper mentions that one way to stay safe is to remember the phrase, “See a flash, dash inside.” He mentions that this is important to remember, because usually once lightning can be seen and thunder can be heard, the storm is close enough that individuals could be struck.