microwave

True story: I grew up in San Francisco close enough to the beach that there were signs on my street that read TSUNAMI EVACUATION ROUTE. Of course SF is primely situated on the Ring of Fire, home to 90% of the world’s earthquakes (which set off tsunamis). All that to say, I had plenty of school drills growing up for taking cover during a quake, but very little instruction on how to prepare for a thunder/lightning storm. One woman in Kentucky just learned the hard way that you should not use electrical appliances if your home is right in the thick of a lightning storm, and she’s sharing her story so other unenlightened folks (like yours truly) don’t suffer the same injuries she has. Last week Shelby Moore was getting dinner together for her three kids, when lightning struck the house at the exact moment she was pulling the microwave door open. The electrocution was so strong that she couldn’t remove her hand until the electricity was off, and she’s since had to miss work due to nerve and muscle damage.

A woman says she suffered a serious injury after touching her microwave at the exact moment her home was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm.

Shelby Miller of Louisville, Ky., was preparing dinner for herself and her kids the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 19, when the scary incident occurred, according to local news outlet WAVE.

The mom of three recalled that she reached for the appliance as usual when she was electrocuted.

“Next thing you know, my microwave is going off, I’m pulling the door open, and I’m being electrocuted,” she told the outlet in a video interview. “I couldn’t even let go of the microwave. My hand was stuck there until all electricity was shut off.”

“Once I was able to pull my hand away, I put ice on it immediately, and I felt tingling and numbness,” she added.

Shelby rushed to the emergency room at Norton Audubon Hospital, where tests revealed she had nerve and muscle damage to her left arm — and is now at risk of having a heart attack.

“I’m nervous,” she told WAVE. “I wasn’t expecting that I was gonna have to call off work for an injury. I wasn’t expecting to have any nerve damage in my arm. I use my arms at work […] so that really worries me.”

She continued, “How long am I going to be out of work? Is there going to be severe damage? Am I going to gain feeling back in my arm? I was told that I should, within a few hours, start to feel my hand again. The only thing that I feel is the numbness and the tingling. It started in my hand, and it slowly worked its way up.”

Shelby said she decided to share her story in the hopes that it might help spread awareness of the dangers of using electrical appliances during thunderstorms.

“You don’t think that you can’t use your home appliances during a storm,” she explained. “I was always told, ‘Don’t get in the shower during a thunderstorm.’ I didn’t know that I couldn’t prepare a meal for me and my family.”

“I know that, from now on, I’m going to unplug everything when I know a storm is coming,” she added.

[From People]

Egads! I’m thinking back to all the storms I’ve weathered living in NYC where I blithely noted lightning flashes out the window, all the while lounging inside with the lights, TV, and probably a fan if not the AC on. My heart goes out to Shelby, especially after watching her in the local news segment. Her anxiety over not being able to work was palpable — as mine would be given the current state of government disaster relief. (And yet Martha Stewart is in fighting form despite thrice being struck…) The National Weather Service is a great resource for what to do during a lightning storm. I found their “Myths and Facts” page particularly helpful, if a bit blunt at times, “You are NOT safe anywhere outdoors.” And indoors, definitely do not run or touch anything in the house that can conduct electricity, and stay away from the windows as lightning can come in through cracks. Be safe out there, bitches!

phtoos via Wave 3 News and Gentri Shop on Unsplash