Another Sad Lightning Story

I had another customer come to me with a computer that was fried by lightning. It prompted me to do a search online and I came across this very interesting article about the impact of lightning on electronics. It is worth a read. A part of it...

It is unfortunate, but a fact of life, that computers, computerrelated
products and process control equipment found in premises data communications
environments can be damaged by high-voltage surges and spikes. Such power
surges and spikes are most often caused by lightning strikes. However, there
are occasions when the surges and spikes result from any one of a variety of
other causes. These causes may include direct contact with power/lightning
circuits, static buildup on cables and components, high energy transients
coupled into equipment from cables in close proximity, potential differences
between grounds to which different equipment’s are connected, miswired
systems and even human equipment users who have accumulated large static
electricity charge build-ups on their clothing. In fact, electrostatic discharges from a person can produce peak Voltages up to 15 kV with currents of tens of Amperes in less than 10 microseconds.