Lightning will strike as often as it likes.

Managers learning value of protecting their assets

Five percent of all commercial insurance claims in the United States are caused by lightning damage, according to Factory Mutual Insurance. And it's no wonder -- the continental United States receives 20 million lightning strikes a year, plenty of which are absorbed by the lightning-prone northeast.

Lightning can mangle an office building's computers, machinery and electronic systems within seconds. It can also ignite the building or jab through a roof. But a properly equipped lightning protection system can safeguard against such damage, particularly now as the summer storm season is in full swing.

Here in New York City, skyscrapers bear the brunt of the strikes. Of those skyscrapers, it is the Empire State Building that consistently gets the lion's share of lightning - over thirty bolts a year, in fact.

The tall buildings in the area benefit from the ESB's height since it effectively lures the bolts away from them. In that sense, the ESB is midtown's communal lightning rod, a steel spike that gets charged on occasion.

"The steelwork in the building acts as a grounder. Really, the only effect that you get from the lightning is some static on the radio," said Alex Smirnoff, the director of telecommunications at the Empire State Building.

The zenith of its radio tower is a copper lightning rod, some four feet long, which draws the charge into the building and conducts it into the recesses of Manhattan. Viewed from the 102nd floor turret -- 20 stories above the general public's platform -- the lightning rod is a series of copper wires that arc out from the top of the spire. The three ends of the wire are connected by more copper wire, forming a triangular shape. This configuration draws the bolts more effectively than a standard lightning rod.

The lightning protection system in the Empire State Building was built into the framework during construction. That is the best time to install a system, which consists of air terminals, conductors, groundings and bases. The system allows the lightning to complete a circuit -- the shortest route into the ground -- by conducting the current through the trunk of the building.

Installing a lightning protection system isn't overwhelmingly expensive, especially when the cost of being vulnerable is considered.

"For less than one percent of the cost of a building, an owner can put in a protection system that will protect their building," said Rob Cooper, vice president of the Associated Lightning Rod Company, based in Duchess County.

Cooper said that his firm "prefers to get in early" in the construction process to install their systems. Though, according to Clooper, Florida is the unofficial "Lightning Capital of the United States," he admitted that the northeastern United States gets a fair share of storms every summer.

"The intensity of the storms here is greater than other places that have more storms," he said.

The highest residential tower in the world -- Trump's World Tower on the east side, adjacent to the United Nations -- took no chances with lightning protection.

"It didn't cost much to install the system. We did, however, get hit early on before we had the system in," said Mitcha Koeppel, Trump Organization's vice president of construction.

The early warning strike only "blew out some panels," according to Koeppel. All four corners of the roof are now equipped with lightning rods.

"Lightning really has no rules. It is a natural phenomenon so you cannot take any ances," said Koeppel.