Has anyone ever been hit by lightning while talking on the phone during a storm?

Question

Is this an old wives tale?

Answer 1

My friend was thrown across the room once. The storm was actually at the other persons end of the line.(over 600klms away)! She was taken to hospital from concussion but she was fine. 4 people including myself were there at the time, so its defiantly no wife's tale!!

Answer 2

I haven't been struck but my phone melted on the wall.

There was a thunderstorm and having heard the same tale about not talking on the phone during a storm, I hung up the phone with the intent of calling my friend back later.

I was looking out the window when I saw the lightning strike the main phone line strung in the street. At the same time, my phone exploded inside the plastic casing and then started melting.

When the repairman replaced the phone he said that it was nowhere near the worst he had seen. I wondered what that worse was.

It's no old wives tale.

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Answer 3

yes it is most definately true. The current from the lighting bolt is conducted by the phone line and can either make the phone explode or in some cases melt. All the lightning has to do is hit the ground. The current travels to the cables buried under the ground. If you are on the phone when this happens you can be killed or severely injured. Many cases of people being thrown accross the room. You dont necessarily need to be using the phone for it to be effected.

As a kid I used to go with my Dad to jobs when he was a telephone technician. I remember one lady who reported that the phone hit the ceiling. All along the wall where the cable should have been the cable was melted away and all that was left was the little hooks that hold it there with a little bit of dripped melted plastic. If she had of been on the phone when the lightning hit, she would have been killed.

Answer 4

To be honest, I haven't and don't know anybody who has. But technically it is possible as a thunderstorm (magnetic storm) affects signals. So why shouldn't it create an unusal affect when it strikes someone holding a connection to those electric pulses. I could, of course, be talking through my backside - its really up to you to decide.

A little experience my parents went through (midnight) was watching lightning flicker out the plug sockets. I'm glad we unplugged eveything electrical otherwise everything would have blown. Literally, electricity is a landmine for lightning.

Answer 5

There have been several reported cases of people being struck by lightning whilst on a mobile phone.

It’s bad for your health, it annoys the people around you, it causes car accidents.. and now speaking on your cellphone during a thunderstorm increases your chance of getting struck by lightning??? Hello???

According to British Medical Journal, after many cases of serious injury to those struck by lightning while speaking on their cellphones, apparently the risk from cellphones doesn’t come from the radiation but rather the metal components it contains. As lightning chooses the easiest route to the ground, someone standing up and using a phone will offer the path of least resistance.. obviously the risk increases if they are wet.

However, even carrying an umbrella could have you struck by lightning.

Answer 6

There have been true stories of people who have been injured talking on the phone during a lightning storm.

Answer 7

Actually talking on the phone is really dangerous during a thunderstorm. Phones let out magnetic waves that can attract a lightning bolt.

Answer 8

Telstra in Australia advise against using landline phones in electrical storms. It's a good idea to disconnect your modem too in electrical storms.

One old house I owned had lightning "arrestors" connected to the old phone lines that had gone in during the 1930s so it's no myth.

Answer 9

It is also possible that you will suffer ear damage from the loudness of a lightning strike. Of course, this can happen on a cordless phone too.

Answer 10

No but unfortunately "hit" twice in my life, as a 5 y-o, it struck the ground next to where I was and threw me more than 33 yards through the air and at 19, my car got hit, I had my right arm against bare metal and got "zapped" as well as burned. Not fun!