How Lightning Damages Buildings

Lightning is both amazing to watch, and also highly destructive. The amount of energy a lightning strikes imparts on an object means damage to people and buildings can be significant. It isn't just the strike itself though that causes the problems, there are in fact three ways in which a lightning strike on a building can be devastating.


Physical
Unsurprisingly, most lightning damage is on the rood of a building although this isn't always the case. Roofing titles, chimneys and other roof furniture like satellite dishes and air conditioning unites are often most at risk. However it isn't just this immediate physical damage that is the biggest problem, the risk of fire that can follow a strike is recognised as the biggest potential threat to any building. Tall buildings are especially vulnerable therefore it is rare to see prominent buildings without some form of lightning protection.

Conduction
Of course, anything metal both attracts the strike and then conducts the electricity, this can often be carried deep inside a building causing irreparable damage to electronic equipment. It's not just electronics that spread the damage around though; plumbing is just as likely to create problems. In fact, the conductive nature of metal can be so attractive to lightning that even hidden pipe work underground can often be in the direct firing line.




Electromagnetic
Finally, it doesn't even have to be a direct strike to cause problems, electromagnetic fields caused by a strike can create havoc with computer equipment and other sensitive electronics. Many choose to protect themselves by fitting surge protection devices in addition to physical protection. Whilst physical damage can often be repaired, the loss of data which is possible with the Electromagnetic fields has the potential to be extremely costly and disruptive to businesses heavily reliant on data communications.