How lucky are we to live on Marco Island? Even in the heart of lightning strike season, we’re covered. That’s because the president of the world’s largest lightning prediction system is living among us. Not only that, he wants to protect us from lightning strikes – so much so that he was willing to take time out of his busy schedule to educate his fellow islanders on lightning safety.
Bob Dugan is the president of Thor Guard, the lightning prediction system that is used by NASA, USGA, USTA, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Air Canada, United, Fed Ex, UPS, Shell Oil, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, Motorola, AT&T, and over 700 universities, schools and municipalities, from airports and ski areas to the NFL and zoos. Closer to home, Thor Guard is used by Collier County Public Schools and the City of Marco Island. In fact, on our four-by-six-mile island, there are 10 Thor Guard systems in operation with 19 horns. That sounds like pretty thorough coverage. In fact, it sounds like all we have to do is listen for Thor Guard’s five-second horn blast, then move back inside. But that’s not necessarily the case, warns Dugan.
“If there is some level of warning,” Dugan said, “and you hear it, whether it’s lightning or thunder or horn, go in.”
In other words, if you see a bolt of cloud-to-ground lightning, go in. If you hear a loud clap of thunder, go in. If you see cloud-to-cloud lightning, go in. If you hear thunder rumbling in the distance, go in. And of course, if you hear one of Thor Guard’s 19 horns, go in—immediately.
But what if you’re playing tennis and hear a distant rumble of thunder, but the Thor Guard horn hasn’t sounded? Is it okay to finish your tennis match?
“Thunder is kind of misleading,” Dugan said, “because like all noise, thunder is a range of frequencies. So, a strike that’s very close, you’ll hear the high frequency. That’s the loud clap. If a storm is 20 miles away, you hear the rumble because the higher frequency can’t make that trip. So, you can hear some pretty significant rumbling going on. Would I listen to that? With all I know? I listen to that command. Absolutely. There’s no guarantee that the strike can’t come from 20 miles away. Whether you’re barbecuing or having a party or on the beach, even if the horns don’t go off, if you see lightning or hear thunder, you ought to get out of there. There’s no reason not to come in because what’s your life worth? To stay out to cook one more hot dog and die? That doesn’t make a lot of sense. We try to train our customers. I just want people to understand more about how lightning works.”
Dugan feels pretty good about Marco’s lightning prediction coverage.
“There’s ten systems on the island, 19 horns. Some systems have more than one horn. The country club has a horn. City Hall has a horn there. There’s a horn at Mackle Park. There’s a strobe light where the dogs walk at the end of Mackle Park. There is a horn down at Winterberry Park. And there is a horn on the beach. That’s all off of one system. We keep the horns within the prediction range of the system. The radios are strong enough. We could put a horn nine miles away and it would work, but it’s outside of the prediction range. We wouldn’t put it out there. Then you’ve got three horns at the JW Marriott, you’ve got one at Marriott Crystal Shores. You’ve got one at South Beach, which is run by the main system at Calusa Boat Launch. Then you’ve got Tigertail Beach, which has two horns. Hideaway Beach has four horns. The golf course has two. Tommie Barfield has one, and Marco Island Academy has one. I think that covers that. That’s pretty good coverage.”
Dugan says that if you have a cell phone you can stay tuned in to where the storms are. Simply go to 360.thormobile.net/thorguard_sw/
“For somebody that’s not very techie,” he said, “as long as they have a smartphone, they have that access. A beginner’s guide to that would be if it’s green, go. Green means all clear. Red alert means stop. That’s why it’s red. You can’t miss it. It’s really pretty easy.”
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