Re: [VAC] AS+lightning: Will we fry?

["Dr. Gerald N. Johnson" <geraldj@xxxxxxxx>]

If you are going to park the trailer semi permanently you should add 8'
or longer driven ground rods, probably one fore and one aft connected to
the frame with wire no smaller than #4 solid copper (about a quarter
inch in diameter). And you should run a wire from the ground lug on the
main electrical panel in the AS to the nearest ground rod, same size.

If there's a tornado approaching the worst place you can be is in a
vehicle, good strong tornadoes compact cars and trucks into smaller
bundles than the junkyard compactors. Trailers and mobile homes are
demolished to splinters by the weakest of tornadoes. The only safe place
is in the basement of a house UNDER a strong work bench or if there's no
basement, in the innermost room or closet or in a dedicated
Oklahoma/Kansas style "fraid hole" storm or bomb shelter. Any place
outside is inviting being made into a human pin cushion by storm debris,
stuff like splintered trees, houses, cars and the like passing by at a
couple hundred MPH.

I went to a severe storms conference (I'm a spotter and my work is in
creating weather display software) the first of the month where that was
one of the topics of discussion. One paper was concerned about the media
publicity of hiding under overpasses. There were deaths last May around
Oklahoma City under each such overpass, and the survivors were severely
injured by the splintered debris. Things like missing ears, fingers,
noses and many stab wounds.

There was discussion of the long standing advice to lay down in a ditch
to be at the lowest wind speed. That's in question now because one of
those killed at an overpass near Oklahoma City last May was found in a
ditch, under 8 feet of debris (8 days after the tornado). And there were
only two tornado deaths in Iowa in the 1990s. Last year a couple tried
to outrun a tornado, but failed, so parked their car and got in the
ditch as advised. A 2500 pound piece of a combine fell on them and the
car.

The telephone line may ground its wiring, but only at a great distance,
and with tiny wire. In fact it may bring lightning into the home/AS. I
disconnect the computer from the phone line any time there's a storm
about. Surge protectors for phone lines AND for power lines do SAVE
computers and modems from some damaging surges. Direct hits are another
problem.

Gerald J. (Consulting electrical engineer).