On 5 July 2026, 24-year-old Mikhail Benyamin was out at sea off Pasir Ris Beach with a group of friends, kayaking and paddleboarding after a family picnic. As a freelance sea sports instructor, he’d done this a hundred times before. But here’s the part that should freak you out: witnesses said the skies were completely clear when lightning struck him. No storm clouds overhead, no warning siren, nothing. The rain only started after he was already hit. He was pulled to shore by nearby fishermen and rushed to hospital, but he didn’t make it.
If you’re thinking “wait, isn’t lightning only dangerous when it’s actually raining?” then congrats, you’ve just stumbled onto myth #1. And honestly, you’re not alone. A lot of the “lightning safety tips” passed down from our parents, PE teachers, or that one uncle who swears by his own logic, are flat-out wrong.
While Singapore doesn’t have typhoons, we get struck by lightning more than almost anywhere else on Earth (some parts of the island see up to 36 flashes per sq.km. a year!) this is not a “chey, won’t happen to me” topic.
Myth #1: “It’s only dangerous when it’s raining”
This is the one that (allegedly) caught Mikhail’s group off guard. Lightning doesn’t need rain to fall from the sky where you’re standing; a bolt can travel several kilometres away from the storm cloud that produced it and strike a spot where the sky looks completely blue. This is sometimes called a “bolt from the blue.”
The real rule: if you can hear thunder, you’re already close enough to be struck, rain or no rain. The general guidance from meteorological agencies is the “30-30 rule”: if the gap between seeing lightning and hearing thunder is 30 seconds or less, get indoors, and it’s only safe 30 minutes after the last rumble.
Myth #2: Trees and bus shelters will keep you safe
Sheltering under a tree during a storm feels instinctive; you’re out of the rain, right? Except trees are tall, and act like a lightning rod pointing straight at the sky. Standing near or under a tree or even in a forest is one of the most common ways people get hurt by lightning worldwide.
Lightning can hit a tree and jump through the air to hit a person nearby, plus electricity spreads across the ground around the base of a struck tree. In addition, strong winds and lightning blasts can break heavy branches that can fall on you.
Bus shelters are trickier because it depends on the structure. Most bus stops are open-sided or have partial glass/metal panels so it increases exposure, which is made worse if it’s next to open areas because it becomes the highest conductive point around. The only shelters that genuinely protect you are fully enclosed buildings with proper lightning protection systems (which, to be fair, Singapore is pretty strict about. Codes require lightning rods on stadiums, public pools, and tall buildings by law).
The real rule: the safest place is a solid, enclosed building: think mall, MRT station, your block’s lift lobby, and not a random shed or a forest of trees.
Myth #3: Cars are safe because of the rubber tyres
Close, but for completely the wrong reason. A car can genuinely protect you during a thunderstorm, but it’s not the rubber tyres doing the work. An average lightning bolt carries up to 200,000 amps, which would laugh at a few centimetres of rubber. What actually saves you is the metal shell of the car acting like a Faraday cage: the electrical current travels around the metal frame and down into the ground, rather than through you sitting inside.
The real rule: hop into a proper hard-topped vehicle and keep the windows up. Convertibles, motorcycles, and golf buggies don’t count. You need that fully enclosed metal shell.
Myth #4: Rubber shoes or slippers will protect you
Sorry to the entire generation raised on “wear slippers when it thunders” because this one doesn’t hold up. Going back to that 200,000-amp figure: for comparison, a standard 100-watt light bulb runs on about 0.4 amps. The sole of your Crocs is not stopping a current that strong from finding its way to the ground through your body.
The real rule: footwear makes zero difference to your safety. What matters is where you are, not what you’re wearing.
Myth #5: Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice
It absolutely does. Repeatedly, in fact, especially if that “place” is tall or sticks out from its surroundings. The Merlion at Marina Bay was struck badly enough in 2009 to blow a soccer-ball-sized hole in it. Tall buildings, telecom towers, and HDB blocks get struck regularly, which is exactly why lightning protection systems (the rods you see on top of buildings) exist and are required by law here.
The real rule: height and isolation are what attract lightning, not “luck.” If you’re the tallest or most exposed thing in an open area (on a beach, a field, or a boat), you are the target.
So why does Singapore get hit so much anyway?
Short version: we’re sitting right on the equator, which means intense heat and humidity all year round, cooking up thunderstorms almost daily. Singapore’s Meteorological Service estimates the island sees around 170 to 186 thunder days a year — among the highest lightning density of anywhere on the planet, according to Vaisala’s global lightning density data cited by Statista. April, May, October, and November — the inter-monsoon months — tend to be the worst, and storms typically peak between 2pm and 6pm.
Mikhail’s death is a brutal reminder that lightning doesn’t play by the rules we grew up believing. Stay safe out there, and maybe send this to that one friend who still thinks flip-flops are lightning-proof.
