Mathias Krumbholz / wikimedia
The African country has one of the highest death rates of people struck by lightning and superstitions surrounding black magic are also to blame.
Zimbabwe has one of the higher death rates from lightning of the planet. The danger was tragically highlighted in January, when a 103-year-old woman was killed by lightning while working in her cooking cabin in the east of the country. His death was one of around 120 lightning deaths recorded annually in the country and the National Department of Meteorological Services believes that this figure is still up to 30% below the true number of deaths.
With a population of around 16 million, the death rate from lightning in Zimbabwe is approximately 10 to 21 deaths per million people every year. The country also holds the sad record for the highest number of people killed by a single lightning strike: 21 inhabitants of the village of Chinamasa in 1975.
Despite these alarming numbers, many residents, especially in rural areas, still rely on the long-held belief that “natural” lightning does not kill and, instead, attribute the deaths to supernatural attacks carried out by malicious individuals and black magic. These superstitions lead many to ignore basic precautions and continue to work in open fields during storms.
Traditional healer Tichakunda Bote, from the National Association of Traditional Healers of Zimbabwe, says many believe rays can be used curse other people when disagreements arise.
“Lightning can be used by malicious people to harm others when there is a problem between them. They can only be used when there is a problem”, says Bote to , adding that “if a person tries to use lightning to harm another when there is no problem between the two, the lightning will return and will harm the sender or his family.”
This belief leads people to feel protected and devalue the danger if they didn’t do anything wrong. Superstitions are so widespread that they have even been the subject of an exhibition at a museum in Mutare.
Scientists point to a convergence of climatic and geographic factors to explain the high incidence of these storms in Zimbabwe. Situated in the tropics, the country has intense heat that drives moist air upward, forming huge convective storm systems known for producing abundant lightning.
The seasonal arrival of Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) further fuels this process by drawing in moist air from the Indian Ocean. Zimbabwe’s rugged geography, with much of the territory above 1000 meters in altitude, further accelerates the rise of air through orographic elevation, intensifying the severity of storms.
Previous research has also found that low conductive soils of Zimbabwe They can channel lightning currents over long distances, increasing the likelihood of fatal lightning strikes. More recently, studies from Los Alamos National Laboratory suggest that cosmic ray interactions may play a role in triggering the storms, although the mechanisms are still poorly understood.
Efforts to reduce fatalities also have major challenges ahead. Mary Ann Cooper of the African Centers for Lightning and Electromagnetism Network (ACLENet) notes that most homes, schools and churches in sub-Saharan Africa are not lightning-proof structures.
Public education, including the simple rule “When the thunder rumbles, come home“, is critical but difficult to implement where safe shelters are scarce.
