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Severe thunderstorms and the associated lightning events will continue to cause damage to
anything and everything exposed to the weather elements. Historically NCDC has reported 1
injury in the Region from 2000 through 2012.
Lightning is a regular occurrence in the planning area and is a known hazard as it pertains to
buildings, crops, and people. It can affect communication systems which include warning
systems and power. The most common months for lightning strikes is May through September,
the very time period that people are enjoying recreational activities outdoors such as the golf
course and lakeside.
The statistical analysis method was used to refine and assess the relative vulnerability of each
of Region L’s counties to lightning. The planning committee assigned ratings to pertinent factors
that were examined at the county level. These factors are: social vulnerability index, prior
events, prior annualized property damage, building exposure valuation, population density and
crop exposure (annualized crop losses were not used since USDA did not have insured crop
loss amounts to use in the tabulation). Then a rating value of 1-10 was assigned to the data
obtained for each factor and then weighted equally and factored together to obtain overall
vulnerability scores for comparison and to determine the greatest vulnerable counties.
The following are the data sources of the six factors: Social Vulnerability Index for Region L’s
counties from the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South
Carolina, National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) storm events (2006 – 2012), U.S. Census
Bureau (2010) and USDA’s Census of Agriculture (2007). It was determined that since lightning
is a common occurrence in Kansas, that using historical events and property damages from
2006 forward provides adequate events to describe the lightning problem in the planning area.
Table 3.124 below provides the data for each of the six factors described above taken into
consideration to determine overall vulnerability to lightning. The data is provided by county.
Table 3.124. Vulnerability of Kansas Counties Factor Amounts for Lightning
County
SoVI
Rating
(1-5)
Prior
Events
2006-
2012
Property
Damages
Annualized
Property
Damages
Total Building
Exposure
($000)
Population
Density
Crop Exposure
(2007 Census of
Agriculture)
Region L
Johnson 1 1 $150,000 $21,429 $43,871,468 1,149.60 $29,472,000
Leavenworth 1 1 $0 $0 $4,877,783 164.7 $20,983,000
Wyandotte 3 1 $5,000 $714 $12,066,666 1,039.00 $0
total 3 $155,000 $22,143 $60,815,917 $50,455,000
Note: The Census of Agriculture did not publish crop exposure in Wyandotte County to avoid disclosure of individual operations.
Table 3.125 provides the ranges for the 1-10 lightning vulnerability factor ratings. The Social
Vulnerability Index is in a range of 1- 5. To give Social Vulnerability Index the same weight as
the other factors, the numbers were multiplied by two.
3.208