MANATEE COUNTY – New technology on Manatee County beaches could help protect beachgoers and first responders from lightning strikes.
“Across the Gulf of Mexico, you see those lightning strikes it lights the sky up, and it’s really a gorgeous thing but I can tell you when its close, you don’t want to be anywhere near it,” said Chief of Manatee County’s Beach Patrol, Joe Westerman.
Manatee County has installed 11 new lifeguard stands on Coquina, Cortez, and Holmes beaches.
The new piece of technology that sits on the top of the flag pole of each lifeguard stand is designed to protect first responders and beachgoers during a storm.
So how does the technology stop a lightning strike between a cloud and the ground?
“What happens is there are positive and negative ions, and those positive and negative ions are attracted to each other and that attraction usually is the highest point of some location that they’re attracted to and that is what makes that lightning strike happen, this device breaks up that charge in between the cloud and the ground so that there can never be a connective positive and negative link,” said Westerman.
Each lifeguard stand, depending on its size has either a 25 model unit that protects a radius of 82 feet around each tower or a 120 unit that protects a 393 radius.
Manatee County is the first in Florida to have this type of technology on a beach.
“Out of that perimeter, say 25 meters if that’s what it is lighting can strike still but inside that block of this structure it makes it, I would say impervious to a lightning strike because of that negative and positive ion breakup,” said Westerman.
SNN’s Chief Meteorologist has a reminder for all on the Suncoast…
“Florida is the lightning capital of the nation, in particular, the Tampa Bay area including us here along the Suncoast has a hot spot for being the lightning capital of Florida, with that in mind we all need to stay weather aware over the summertime and really any given time during the year,” said SNN’s Chief Meteorologist, Justin Mosely.
With Florida being the lightning capital of the U.S. this new technology could help save lives.