WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES
	Imagine you are sitting safely in your home during a thunderstorm, seeing the bright flashes of lightning through
the window and hearing the crashes of thunder as they shake your house.
	Watching this incredible phenomenon. it is easy to understand why long ago people believed that lightning came
from the gods. According to legend, the Greek god, Zeus. threw lightning bolts or flashes when he was angry. The Vikings in Scandinavia also had a god called Thor, who created lightning and thunder. In ancient Rome, a lightning bolt was a sign that the gods were unhappy.
Today, through science	and modem technology, we understand lot more about lightning. We know that lightning
 strikes the ground somewhere around the world about 100 times every second  around 8 million times a day. Lightning is caused by electrical energy that forms during certain storm conditions.  Sometimes the lightning is a flash of light in the sky. This happens when electricity passes between two clouds. When the lightning travels from a cloud to the ground, we see a bright forked flash striking the land.
These bolts are the ones that ran cause damage. They sometimes scan forest fires. or strike buildings or even people. Luckily, today, most buildings are constructed to be safe from lightning. But this was not always so. In 1856,for example, a church in Rhodes, Greece, was hit by lighting. Tragically, the church held a large amount of gunpowder and the horrific explosion killed 4,000 people!
But you don't need gunpowder to make lightning dangerous. There is enough electricity in lightning to lift a 1,000 kilogram car 20 metres into the air! So when you are outside in a thunderstorm, it's a good idea to look for shelter. The best thing to do is get inside a building, because this will help protect you. Keep away from trees, water or metal, as these all attract lightning.
BElieve it or not, even if lightning hits you, you have got a good chance of surviving. Nine out of ten people who are struck by lightning live to tell the tale. But those who survive often suffer injuries, so it´s not a good idea to see if you're one of the lucky ones. As one expert said, "As far as lightning is concerned, its better to be safe than sorry”