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Woman saved from lightning by flip-flops
Daily Press ^ | August 16, 2007 | Danielle Zielinski

Posted on 08/16/2007 1:37:50 PM PDT by xjcsa

YORK - Flip-flops and faith.

Without those two things, Marie Drackert says, she wouldn't be alive today.

Drackert was sitting in her York County home July 29, watching the weather on television, when a bolt of lightning came down her chimney and out through her fireplace, frying appliances and sending a jolt of electricity through her body.

She believes the rubber in her flip-flops kept her insulated from the strike. Her faith kept her going.

"I told my son I'm going to bronze those flip-flops," she said. "I swear."

(Excerpt) Read more at dailypress.com ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: kerry; lightning

1 posted on 08/16/2007 1:37:51 PM PDT by xjcsa
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To: xjcsa
"I told my son I'm going to bronze those flip-flops," she said. "I swear."

Thus ruining their insulating properties. Duh.

2 posted on 08/16/2007 1:39:05 PM PDT by sam_paine (X .................................)
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To: xjcsa

John Kerry saved someone?


3 posted on 08/16/2007 1:40:15 PM PDT by ladtx ("You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks." Will Rogers)
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To: xjcsa

my mom always had us put on our sneakers inside the house during thunderstorms. Some say it’s an old wives tale...


4 posted on 08/16/2007 1:41:06 PM PDT by RDTF (Republicans believe every day is July 4th, but Democrats believe every day is April 15th. - Reagan)
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To: xjcsa

I think I’d keep my flip flops rubberized just in case.

Her toaster is toast!


5 posted on 08/16/2007 1:42:07 PM PDT by mtbopfuyn (I think the border is kind of an artificial barrier - San Antonio councilwoman Patti Radle)
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To: xjcsa

Lucky crackpot.

I guess she’s lucky that she selected the flip-flops that are dielectric insulators good for 50,000 volt airborne electrical discharges.


6 posted on 08/16/2007 1:43:21 PM PDT by Bon mots
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To: xjcsa
Didja hear about the guy who got struck by lightning in the foot?

It welded his zipper together.

7 posted on 08/16/2007 1:43:54 PM PDT by HIDEK6
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To: RDTF
Some say it’s an old wives tale...

It's an old wives tale. This woman's flip flops did nothing for her IMHO; you'll note she was still shocked. Lightning has too much power behind it to be bothered by a thin layer of rubber; after all it's already traveled through thousands of feet (sometimes several miles) of insulation (air) before it hits ground.

8 posted on 08/16/2007 1:44:19 PM PDT by xjcsa (Hillary Clinton is nothing more than Karl Marx with huge calves.)
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To: xjcsa

Oops. I meant 100 million volts.


9 posted on 08/16/2007 1:44:27 PM PDT by Bon mots
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To: xjcsa

“I felt the earth move under my feet,”

She out to write a song about her experience.


10 posted on 08/16/2007 1:44:39 PM PDT by CarryingOn (Spread the message every day, like your life depended on it.)
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To: ladtx
John Kerry saved someone?

I was wondering how many posts that would take...and I'm impressed.

11 posted on 08/16/2007 1:44:52 PM PDT by xjcsa (Hillary Clinton is nothing more than Karl Marx with huge calves.)
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To: Bon mots
I guess she’s lucky that she selected the flip-flops that are dielectric insulators good for 50,000 volt airborne electrical discharges.

Exactly.

12 posted on 08/16/2007 1:45:30 PM PDT by xjcsa (Hillary Clinton is nothing more than Karl Marx with huge calves.)
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To: xjcsa
...sending a jolt of electricity through her body.

She believes the rubber in her flip-flops kept her insulated from the strike.

Does anyone else see the contradiction here?

13 posted on 08/16/2007 1:46:10 PM PDT by CougarGA7 (It's up to us to keep it all from unraveling)
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To: RDTF
My mom always had us put on our sneakers inside the house during thunderstorms. Some say it’s an old wives tale...

Of course it is!
Many people think that a car is such a safe place to be because of the big rubber tires. In fact, that's not true.
It's true that a car is a safe place to be in a thunderstorm, but the tires have nothing to do with it.
The steel structure of the car acts as a "Faraday Cage" and the lightning does not hurt those inside the car.
Don't get struck in a convertible.
There was a case a few years ago where some people were struck by lightning while driving in a pickup truck. The people in the cab were fine, those in the back were all killed.

Tires don't help.

14 posted on 08/16/2007 1:47:46 PM PDT by Bon mots
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To: xjcsa

Someone had to do it.


15 posted on 08/16/2007 1:54:44 PM PDT by ladtx ("You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks." Will Rogers)
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To: CarryingOn

lol One of Carol King’s good ones


16 posted on 08/16/2007 7:40:57 PM PDT by RDTF (Republicans believe every day is July 4th, but Democrats believe every day is April 15th. - Reagan)
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To: xjcsa

Wasn’t there a woman a year or two ago who was struck by lightning, but her insulated footwear prevented the charge from exiting through her legs? The bolt instead left through her, um, hind parts, so it was painful, but not fatal.


17 posted on 08/18/2007 8:54:51 PM PDT by MikeD (We live in a world where babies are like velveteen rabbits that only become real if they are loved.)
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To: MikeD
Wasn’t there a woman a year or two ago who was struck by lightning, but her insulated footwear prevented the charge from exiting through her legs? The bolt instead left through her, um, hind parts, so it was painful, but not fatal.

I seriously doubt it. If she was standing, the air between her rear and the ground is a far more effective insulator than the rubber in her shoes; the difference is too marginal to matter at that level of energy.

18 posted on 08/19/2007 9:45:43 AM PDT by xjcsa (Hillary Clinton is nothing more than Karl Marx with huge calves.)
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To: xjcsa

One out of two lightning bolts starts from here and goes there and vice versa. It’s a polarity thing.


19 posted on 08/19/2007 9:49:54 AM PDT by RightWhale (It's Brecht's donkey, not mine)
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To: RightWhale

I’m aware of that, but that has nothing to do with a thin layer of rubber stopping a lightning bolt capable of bridging miles of air.


20 posted on 08/19/2007 8:41:31 PM PDT by xjcsa (Hillary Clinton is nothing more than Karl Marx with huge calves.)
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