Thunderstorms made their season debut in the southeast this past weekend and Steinbach's Emergency Coordinator says there are measures you can take to stay safe during storms this year.

Dennis Vassart notes if you can hear thunder, you're within striking distance of lightning and once the storm has passed he advises people to stay indoors up to 30 minutes past the last thunder clap.

Vassart says being inside a vehicle is safer than not being in anything at all but notes to park away from tall trees and hydro poles. He gives some tips on what you should do inside your house.

"If you're indoors, stay away from a landline telephone, using your cell phone isn't dangerous, but if it's hooked outside to the copper wires it can come in and give you a shock that way. If you have steel sinks and copper piping in your house, you don't want to be sitting in your bathtub during a lightning storm either." 

Vassart notes that anything you've got attached to your roof should be grounded to the ground plate around your house including your satellite dish so if your house were to be struck by lightning the current will flow down into the ground. He also adds there are things you can do to protect your electronics.

"If a lightning surge hits your house, it can actually blow out all your electronics unless you have surge protection on your electrical panel or where you plug your electronics into and even that doesn't guarantee that you won't get hit. Things like TV's and DVD players and those types of things are susceptible to a lightning strike."

Vassart adds although watching a thunderstorm might look neat, you should always do whatever you can to be in a safe area when a storm hits.  

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