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Locking the pool areas during rain when lightning is “nearby”

normab

normab

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
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Location
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We just got back from Lakeshore reserve and encountered this situation. This time of year in Orlando, it rains every day in the afternoon pretty much… And you can hear the thunder although it might be 10 or 12 miles away… Apparently they lock the gates around the pool so you can’t access or cross the pool area. This especially annoying at Lakeshore reserve, if you want to go to the marketplace or the Bar and Grill, the shortest distance is across the pool area. It’s the layout of the resort….

We have never seen this in Hilton Head or any of the other Florida resorts. I’m just posting because I’m curious if anybody else has run into this?
 
Yes, it seems that all of the resorts are or have installed lightning warning systems that go off when lighting is detected within an eight mile radius. Locking the gates is annoying, but I suspect it is for liability issues. If the gates were unlocked, someone would surely enter the pool. If the gates were unlocked, an employee would instead have to walk through and keep people out putting them at risk.
 
Atlantis closes down the waterpark when lightning is in the area. Not even when it's really close. We've been in line for some of the slides and they closed everything down and sent us on our way to find shelter.
 
Lightning can travel 10-12 miles which is further than the sound of thunder travels. So if you can hear the thunder, you are close enough to be struck which is why they say if you can hear it, head indoors.
 
I grew up in the midwest. Lots of thunderstorms and lightening all summer long and we all were herded out of the pool quickly. Not surprising to me then as a kid, although I can empathize with the annoyance and disruption now for grown ups with plans. We weren't thrilled as kid either - in fact we were downright outraged :).
 
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Our old house abutted a golf course and we were always thankful that the course had a warning system that sounded two long horn blasts if lightning was within five miles. Kids naturally do the, "just five more minutes, please?" when you try to get them out of a pool but it was never an issue when the horns went off!
 
There was lighting at Shadow Ridge this week. We rushed out and went back to our room. There were still ppl lingering though trying to wait it out. I believe Mgmt did eventually get everyone out but I didn’t stay around.
 
Better safe than sorry. I'm sure the potential liability has made this situation necessary.
 
Agree with all your statements….just wish they would tell you at checkin! Then you can plan. We
 
zentraveler said:
I grew up in the midwest. Lots of thunderstorms and lightening all summer long and we all were herded out of the pool quickly. Not surprising to me, although I can empathize with the annoyance and disruption. We weren't thrilled as kid either - in fact we were downright outraged :).
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I've had a few close encounters with lightning:
1. I was next to a piece of electrical equipment when a VERY close strike occurred. I saw an arc of perhaps 1" jump from the equipment to me. It was a significant jolt but was right-arm-to-leg. Arm-to-arm is much more dangerous.
2. My wife and I were celebrating a wedding anniversary on summer solstice. Lightning hit our house. I swear that the walls all lit up and sparked. There was the smell of ozone in our house. There were some wires that were vaporized. I had a ham-radio antenna on the roof (about 20' tall). 6 feet was left standing. The 12 gauge grounding wire stayed intact but the metal staples that attached it to the wooden siding were all melted in the middle (hint: eddie currents were induced into the staples). There was a notch out of the nearby electric meter and a bunch of electronics in the house were damaged.
3. A year later (to the day), we had another electrical storm. I was working in the garage and telling my wife that I'd close the garage doors when the storm got worse. Then we had a nearby strike and my flowering plum tree (20 feet from me) was struck and fell over. Time to shut the garage door and go inside.

I've had 2 or 3 other experiences with lightning, but they weren't as dramatic.
 
normab said:
We just got back from Lakeshore reserve and encountered this situation. This time of year in Orlando, it rains every day in the afternoon pretty much… And you can hear the thunder although it might be 10 or 12 miles away… Apparently they lock the gates around the pool so you can’t access or cross the pool area. This especially annoying at Lakeshore reserve, if you want to go to the marketplace or the Bar and Grill, the shortest distance is across the pool area. It’s the layout of the resort….

We have never seen this in Hilton Head or any of the other Florida resorts. I’m just posting because I’m curious if anybody else has run into this?
Click to expand...

I always do my summer FL stays the first week of June for this very reason. By mid-June, the weather sucks pretty much until Sept.
 
BJRSanDiego said:
I've had a few close encounters with lightning:
1. I was next to a piece of electrical equipment when a VERY close strike occurred. I saw an arc of perhaps 1" jump from the equipment to me. It was a significant jolt but was right-arm-to-leg. Arm-to-arm is much more dangerous.
2. My wife and I were celebrating a wedding anniversary on summer solstice. Lightning hit our house. I swear that the walls all lit up and sparked. There was the smell of ozone in our house. There were some wires that were vaporized. I had a ham-radio antenna on the roof (about 20' tall). 6 feet was left standing. The 12 gauge grounding wire stayed intact but the metal staples that attached it to the wooden siding were all melted in the middle (hint: eddie currents were induced into the staples). There was a notch out of the nearby electric meter and a bunch of electronics in the house were damaged.
3. A year later (to the day), we had another electrical storm. I was working in the garage and telling my wife that I'd close the garage doors when the storm got worse. Then we had a nearby strike and my flowering plum tree (20 feet from me) was struck and fell over. Time to shut the garage door and go inside.

I've had 2 or 3 other experiences with lightning, but they weren't as dramatic.
Click to expand...
In the house which I grew up and I was about 10 years old, one morning while getting ready for school, a lightning bolt entered the front of the shophouse and came straight at me but made a turn to my right about a foot in front of me, and continued through the open passage on my right into the back of the house. It scared the hell out of me. My guess is that my rubber soled shoes saved me.
 
normab said:
Agree with all your statements….just wish they would tell you at checkin! Then you can plan. We
Click to expand...

Do you really think they should tell you at check-in if there is lightning in the area the pool gates will be locked?

If they tell you that I can only imagine the long list of other items they would need to tell everyone at check-in "just in case".
 
normab said:
We just got back from Lakeshore reserve and encountered this situation. This time of year in Orlando, it rains every day in the afternoon pretty much… And you can hear the thunder although it might be 10 or 12 miles away… Apparently they lock the gates around the pool so you can’t access or cross the pool area. This especially annoying at Lakeshore reserve, if you want to go to the marketplace or the Bar and Grill, the shortest distance is across the pool area. It’s the layout of the resort….

We have never seen this in Hilton Head or any of the other Florida resorts. I’m just posting because I’m curious if anybody else has run into this?
Click to expand...
The general rule for lightning safety is the 30-30 rule. If you hear lightning in 30 seconds or less it is about 6.5 miles away, and you shut down outdoor activities. You then wait at least 30 minutes after the last thunder is heard (some do more than 30 second rule again).

http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/swimming_pools.html

Makes sense that resorts would do further away (ie 10-15 miles/45-70 seconds), especially with a fast storm moving in.
 
davidvel said:
The general rule for lightning safety is the 30-30 rule. If you hear lightning in 30 seconds or less it is about 6.5 miles away, and you shut down outdoor activities. You then wait at least 30 minutes after the last thunder is heard (some do more than 30 second rule again).

http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/swimming_pools.html

Makes sense that resorts would do further away (ie 10-15 miles/45-70 seconds), especially with a fast storm moving in.
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I beleive this is similar to how the automated lightning warning systems work at the resorts. THough it is 8 miles. If it detects lighting within 8 miles the alarm goes off. They then keep the pool closed for 30 minutes past when the last lighting was detected within 8 miles. I am really curious though, before these systems, how many people were hit by lightning at a timeshare resort? Most people don't want to be hit by lightning and the sound of thunder usually sends them out of the pool.
 
dioxide45 said:
I beleive this is similar to how the automated lightning warning systems work at the resorts. THough it is 8 miles. If it detects lighting within 8 miles the alarm goes off. They then keep the pool closed for 30 minutes past when the last lighting was detected within 8 miles. I am really curious though, before these systems, how many people were hit by lightning at a timeshare resort? Most people don't want to be hit by lightning and the sound of thunder usually sends them out of the pool.
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Those were more rational times when people weren't afraid of knowledge and good sense.
 
This is a law in Orange County. I do educational consulting. A few years ago I was working at a school in Orange County. If it starts to thunder/lightning at dismissal time- the students are not dismissed and they must stay (unless a parent picks them up) until 15 minutes past the last clap of thunder. I was at the school past 6 PM a few days.
 
I remember several years ago at night a group of us in the Hot Tub at the Worldmark Seaside Resort were watching a lighting storm out at Sea. Suddenly there was a large bolt of lighting and there was no delay for the clap of thunder. Which of course meant it was right above us. We all levitated out of the Hot Tub and ran inside.
 
controller1 said:
Do you really think they should tell you at check-in if there is lightning in the area the pool gates will be locked?

If they tell you that I can only imagine the long list of other items they would need to tell everyone at check-in "just in case".
Click to expand...

Yes I do. They handed us an acco folder with a couple of pages with what they consider pertinent. They could add a one sentence declaration to tone of those pages. I consider this pertinent during the rainy season in June. Especially as we’ve never encountered locked gates at Sabal Palms, Royal Palms, Oceanpoint, Oceana Palms, Crystal shores or Beachplace towers. And they did not do it at the JW right next-door. That’s why I posted this question because we’re wondering if it’s a new thing at Marriott.

It’s not a “just in case” in June. We’ve been to Orlando in June several times and this is the weather. (We live in Central Florida and it rains every day in the summer, that’s why they call it the rainy season.) We don’t mind it because it mostly never rains till later in the day. Since we don’t go to the parks, it’s not a dealbreaker for us.

EG sharing salient info…when the sandflies are copious, Frenchmans Cove puts a little note on your sink about the sandflies, that you wouldn’t even bump into if you stayed at the pool. It’s a small thing for them to do but it’s helpful if you’re a beach person that gets eaten alive by bugs….another example, several MVCI resorts take your phone number and text you when the pool is closing and then they text you when it reopens. It’s so easy to share information.

That’s my nickel’s worth and I’m sticking with it.

PS. To All. I’m not complaining about their decision to do it, because I realize the danger of lightning. I’m just saying they should tell you.
 
My problem with the alarm system is they lock the gates but then there is no notification that the pools have reopened. Perhaps they need the horn to instead blare out a big YAY, COMMON BACK!, instead of leaving you guessing if the pools reopened.
 
dioxide45 said:
My problem with the alarm system is they lock the gates but then there is no notification that the pools have reopened. Perhaps they need the horn to instead blare out a big YAY, COMMON BACK!, instead of leaving you guessing if the pools reopened.
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Lakeshore has text notification for the pool opening and closing, but you have to request it. They will also personally call you if you prefer.
 
Mlvnsmly said:
Lakeshore has text notification for the pool opening and closing, but you have to request it. They will also personally call you if you prefer.
Click to expand...
Well, if they had told me it existed I would have requested it. Again, poor communication of information. Most Hilton head resorts ask you as you’re checking in for your cell phone number so they can do it and that gives you the option to opt out.
 
BJRSanDiego said:
I've had a few close encounters with lightning:
1. I was next to a piece of electrical equipment when a VERY close strike occurred. I saw an arc of perhaps 1" jump from the equipment to me. It was a significant jolt but was right-arm-to-leg. Arm-to-arm is much more dangerous.
2. My wife and I were celebrating a wedding anniversary on summer solstice. Lightning hit our house. I swear that the walls all lit up and sparked. There was the smell of ozone in our house. There were some wires that were vaporized. I had a ham-radio antenna on the roof (about 20' tall). 6 feet was left standing. The 12 gauge grounding wire stayed intact but the metal staples that attached it to the wooden siding were all melted in the middle (hint: eddie currents were induced into the staples). There was a notch out of the nearby electric meter and a bunch of electronics in the house were damaged.
3. A year later (to the day), we had another electrical storm. I was working in the garage and telling my wife that I'd close the garage doors when the storm got worse. Then we had a nearby strike and my flowering plum tree (20 feet from me) was struck and fell over. Time to shut the garage door and go inside.

I've had 2 or 3 other experiences with lightning, but they weren't as dramatic.
Click to expand...
The worst shock that I've ever had was 1200 volts DC (high current) but was - - unfortunately -- arm-to-arm. That meant that my heart was in the discharge path. That can knock the heart out of sinus rhythm and can be lethal. It knocked me backwards several feet and I landed on my butt. It took me a period of time to figure out exactly where I was and whether I was in THIS world or the next. Yikes! Thank goodness that I was a teenager and was resilient.
 
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