chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

For all my UHH friends in heavy weather impacted areas:

Could save your life……………….

https://www.youtube.com/embed/fLVzvMTgGDY

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

Very good advice! High voltage electricity is nothing to take chances with.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Don't touch em, don't step on them, don't swim by them!!!!! From another heavy weather Hedgehog!

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

If you insist on using a mobile phone while driving you deserve anything you get.

ottopj Loc: Annapolis, MD USA

Agree. The person you hit, however, doesn't.

1Feathercrest Loc: NEPA

"Impact" is NOT a synonym for "affect". The ubiquitous misuse of this word is an abomination of our society. A hammer striking a nail is an impact. The {effect-result) of movement of the nail entering the wood is the affect. We are becoming a nation of grammatical morons.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

"Stay back about 35'." So the blonde takes out her tape measure and walks up to the power line to measure out a safe distance.

Seriously, though, everyone knows that if the power line is on the ground, it's grounded.

Very good video, though.

Oldman73

Great video, all should take an active part in passing the word. Many people do not know the risk. As a life long fire and rescue person I have seen the effects of knowledge and lack of knowledge. Accidents happen, not just with snow and ice. If you come upon an accident the first thing you need to do, after reporting it, is check for downed wires and also for GROUND ELECTRICAL BOXES that might have been run over and are electrifying the car, live another day to take more PICS...

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Excellent, thanks for sharing. Lots of great tips to see!

chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

OK, as the OP of this thread, I feel compelled to respond to your comment.

A second definition of impact according to my copy of Webster's Dictionary is: "an impelling or compelling effect".

I believe that weather events such as blizzards, tornados, lightning strikes, hail storms and hurricanes often impact the environment and can cause disasterous effects.

Cheers, chase

JoeN Loc: East Texas

A very good video. However, just because a line is on the ground does not mean it is grounded. Soil conditions can be such that a line can lay on the ground yet be energized, especially in very sandy soil. An electrical arc can turn sand to glass and can lay on that glass for a while until the glass breaks down resulting in another flash. This can continue for quite a while depending on soil conditions. Many lines are protected by circuit breakers or reclosers. These devices open when their sensing devices detect abnormal conditions but they reclose after a predetermined time. At the company I work for, a breaker will reclose 3 times with a delay between each closing. You might see a line lying on the ground but the breaker may reclose in a few seconds to a minute or so. You don’t know the conditions so always stay away. A line lying on a car may appear to be de-energized but the tires may offer just enough insulation to prevent the circuit breaker from opening up. If you ever have a line fall on your car stay in the car unless you smell or see smoke just like in the video. Again, this is a very good video. There is a lot of information, details, they couldn’t put in the video because there just wasn’t enough time, but they did an excellent job in the time they had.

hookedupin2005 Loc: Northwestern New Mexico

Excellent response Chase. I was trying to come up with a reply to this "grammar cop's" thread, when I read yours, which pretty much says everything that needs saying, other than the point of your thread is that the dangers of downed powerlines are real.