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40 <br />1) Lightning <br />Perhaps the most dangerous and costly effect of <br />thunderstorms is lightning. As a thunderstorm <br />grows, electrical charges build up within the cloud. <br />Oppositely charged particles gather at the ground <br />below. The attraction between positive and negative <br />charges quickly grows strong enough to overcome <br />the air's resistance to electrical flow. Racing toward <br />each other, the charges connect and complete the <br />electrical circuit. Charge then surges upward from <br />the ground at nearly one-third the speed of light and <br />produces a bright flash of lightning (Cappella, 1997). <br />On average, more people are killed by lightning that <br />any other weather event. Florida leads the nation in <br />lightning related deaths and injuries (National <br />Lightning Safety Institute). Most lightning strike <br />fatalities occur in June, July and August. Florida also <br />has the most strikes, about 12 strikes per square <br />kilometer per year in some places (National Lightning <br />Safety Institute). Nationwide, lightning -related <br />economic losses amount to more than $5 billion per <br />year, and the airline industry alone loses <br />approximately $2 billion a year in operating costs, end <br />passenger delays from lightning (National Lightning <br />Safety Institute). <br />Wildfire/Urban Interface Zone <br />The recent wildfires that burned throughout Florida, <br />specifically central Florida, are examples of the increasing <br />wildfire threat which results from the Wildland/Urban <br />Interface. The Wildland/Urban Interface is defined as the <br />area where structures and other human development meet <br />with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels (Federal <br />Emergency Management Agency, 1996). As residential <br />areas expand into relatively untouched wildlands, people <br />living in these communities are increasingly threatened by <br />forest fires. <br />Indian River County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan Basic Page 11