Ever wonder why it was so important to seek shelter during a thunderstorm?

One picture can prove the benefits of not being a walking target beneath an angry sky:

This image was taken by a security camera in Belle Chase, Louisiana on August 17, 2012.. during a storm--the lightning you see is striking the water in the image.. But the lightning was so severe that it sparked a fire in a chemical plant, releasing said chemicals, and promoting road closures.. An evacuation order was announced and later lifted as officials said the chemical issue would not cause health problems.

But chemicals or not, lightning can kill. And sure, you're more at risk for a car wreck or other serious bodily harm that lightning strike, but this year I noticed something more extreme: Every time my area was wrecked with a severe spring or summer thunderstorm, lightning strikes seemed to amount to hundreds of not thousands over the whole day. At one point this past July, a line of storms moving through Pennsylvania ended up causing over 2,000 lightning strikes in the state. That is a lot.. and it can hurt. And kill.. And even  if it doesn't do those things, this picture proves: It can scare the hell out of you!