Despite the new technologies, programmes and alerts, lightning continues to kill at least 100 people every year in the state.Coastalareas usually witness maximum lighting strikes, owing to its proximity to the sea. Lightning has remained one of the largest causes of deaths due to natural disasters every year in the country for two decades.
As many as 276 people were killed due to lightning strikes between 2018 and 2020 inAndhra Pradesh, according toNCRBdata on accidental deaths. The large proportion of these deaths were in rural pockets, with only 5 to 6 per cent in urban settings.
The lighting strikes also kill wild animals and , cause substantial damage to property and injuries to people and livestock trapped in damaged properties. Experts said that the spate of fatalities every year due to lighting strikes before and during the monsoon months are mostly preventable.