ACLENet Issues Lightning Safety Alert for School Children as School Season opens

As schools across Uganda reopen after the long holiday break, the African Centres for Lightning Education Network (ACLENet) is issuing urgent lightning safety alert for students, parents, and teachers that the reopening coincides with the onset of the first rainy season in many parts of Uganda, a time of heightened risk for lightning injuries.

The rainy season brings thunderstorms that can strike suddenly, even when rain seems light or distant. Children and school communities are at risk, and proper preparation is essential.

To keep children safe from lightning-related deaths and injuries, schools and parents

must take the following safety actions:

Parents and schools should check weather forecasts before sending children to or out

of school.

• Parents and teachers must protect learners’ lives by delaying journeys during active

lightning activity.

• Teachers should direct children to classrooms equipped with standard lightning

protection systems at the first sign of a storm.

• If caught outdoors, avoid open areas, trees, rivers, puddles, and small sheds. Seek

safe, lightning-protected shelter.

• Children must avoid gathering in groups outdoors during lightning storms.

Remember, lightning is Africa’s most dangerous natural disaster, and school children are

often at high risk of being struck due to large gatherings and outdoor movements to and from

school. In Uganda, lightning has killed many children in schools, and notable lightning

incidents include;

Runyanya Primary School incident that occurred in June 2011 killing 18 children and

injuring 38.

• In July 2024, Lightning injured 77 pupils and 2 support staff at Oweko primary school

in Nebbi district.

• In November 2024, 14 children killed and over 32 got injured at Palabek Refugee

Settlement camp in Lamow district.

• Arua: 10 children were killed while playing football.

In Uganda, ACLENet has already protected 9 schools by installing free standard lightning

protection systems at:

Runyanya Primary School – Kiryandongo District (Central Uganda)2. Buramba Primary School – Bushenyi District (Southwest Uganda)

3. Nkurungiro Primary School – Kisoro District (Southwest Uganda)

4. Shone Primary School – Kyankwanzi District (West Central Uganda)

5. Palabek Secondary School – Lamwo District (Northern Uganda)

6. Rock View Primary School – Tororo District (Southeastern Uganda)

7. Mongoyo Primary School – Yumbe District (Northern Uganda)

8. Mulabana Primary School – Kalangala District (Lake Victoria Islands)

9. Bumangi Primary School – Kalangala District (Lake Victoria Islands)

We therefore, urge schools that are not yet protected to install lightning protection systems to

safeguard learners and staff. Schools must remember that preventing danger through safety

practices is cheaper than the cost of installing protection. ACLENet spends between $25,000–

$40,000 USD (~90–140 million UGX) to protect one school with a full standard lightning

protection system.

High-Risk Groups for Lightning Strikes

1. School children due to outdoor activities such as playtime or traveling to and from

school in groups.

2. Farmers and herders who spend long hours in open fields grazing animals, planting,

or harvesting.

3. Outdoor sports players such as footballers, runners, golfers, and others playing or

training on open grounds.

4. Motorcycle riders and cyclists, especially common in rural areas where travel is done

on boda-bodas or bicycles.

5. Pedestrians and travellers walking long distances in open areas without safe shelter.

6. Fishermen who spend time in lakes or rivers where lightning strikes water frequently.

7. Construction workers working on rooftops, scaffolding, or exposed building sites.

8. Security guards and night watchmen often stationed outdoors during storms.

9. People sheltering under trees or in small sheds. A very dangerous practice that

increases strike risk.

10. People in large outdoor gatherings. Common with rural weekly markets, churches

without lightning protection, rallies, funerals, and school assemblies.

11. People living in buildings without lightning protection systems. Especially in

lightning-prone districts or rural schools.

Advice to the General PublicWe advise members of the public to monitor and detect lightning strikes via AM radio

frequencies, as AM signals can detect lightning and alert listeners in real time. Members of

the public must know that surviving a lightning strike starts with preparation and awareness.

Schools, parents, and communities must prioritize safety before, during, and after storms.

In our efforts to further strengthen lightning safety education in schools, we have partnered

with COPE Disaster Champions, in collaboration with partners in Uganda and international

meteorological experts, to develop a new lightning safety book for children. The book will

help children understand risks and stay safe during storms through practical, age-appropriate

guidance and community outreach.

Lightning Hotspots in Uganda

In Uganda, districts with the highest frequency of lightning strikes, recurrent fatalities, and

inclusion in national hazard mapping include:

1. Gulu

2. Lira

3. Nwoya

4. Amuru

5. Adjumani

6. Bushenyi

7. Mitooma

8. Kibaale

9. Tororo

10. Kalangala

11. Kasese

12. Rukungiri