I know that in my Kepler Bb story, with just stone age technology and no nearby cave, that my humanoids are able to survive even the worst disasters.
But once the clay in between the logs is fired with a torch and any accidental fire on the wood is put out, I am still concerned about how safe the chambered home really is in a thunderstorm. With the clay having already been fired, the only thing that water could do to it to make it unsafe is rot the wood.
So water, even a downpour is not my main concern when it comes to thunderstorm safety. My main concern is lightning strikes. Now of course, if their skin had sufficient electrical charge and that electrical charge was layered like this:
lightning wouldn't be a problem. The positive charge on the top would repel any long distance traveling, positive polarity lightning.
Negative polarity lightning is more common and its pathway is more vertical than positive polarity lightning. The negative charges deep down would repel this kind of lightning.
Or maybe I have those backwards but my point is that if the skin had sufficient charge to repel lightning and that charge was layered so positive was on the top and negative was on the bottom, the most a humanoid would get is a 2nd degree burn from the lightning strike.
But this electrical charge comes with its own complications, including reproduction(repelled or stuck together).
So I am assuming that their skin is like that of a human, no significant electrical charge.
The homes my humanoids live in are mostly underground but there are parts of it that are up on the surface. My humanoids, at least in their first civilization, live in a grassland much like the prairies in the USA. This area of grassland is surrounded by forest where they hunt most of their prey, including the occasional bear.
This comes with multiple risks during a thunderstorm.
If a humanoid happens to be in the forest hunting when a thunderstorm comes, the humanoid should crouch down so that the electricity travels through 1 leg and out the other without causing cardiac arrest. Since electricity can induce muscle contraction, if they already got their prey, they should hold it while crouched down and keep the prey from touching the ground or the humanoid's legs to avoid the meat getting tough.
If a humanoid is out in the open grassland and doesn't know where home is(children are more likely to have this happen than adults), the humanoid should crouch down and preferably, call for help.
And even if lightning doesn't actually strike them, there is another risk that is equally dangerous, That is a rapidly spreading wildfire caused by lightning striking the grass. It could burn down everything in the surface chambers but if it is rapidly spreading across the grass, it is more important that the humanoids get underground ASAP. A more controlled fire in the forest would give them enough time to get all the surface chamber stuff in underground storage before it gets to the grass if it even gets there.
So if there is no wildfire, just a thunderstorm, will the humanoids be safe in the surface chambers from lightning strikes or should they go underground regardless of whether or not there is a wildfire?
But once the clay in between the logs is fired with a torch and any accidental fire on the wood is put out, I am still concerned about how safe the chambered home really is in a thunderstorm. With the clay having already been fired, the only thing that water could do to it to make it unsafe is rot the wood.
So water, even a downpour is not my main concern when it comes to thunderstorm safety. My main concern is lightning strikes. Now of course, if their skin had sufficient electrical charge and that electrical charge was layered like this:
lightning wouldn't be a problem. The positive charge on the top would repel any long distance traveling, positive polarity lightning.
Negative polarity lightning is more common and its pathway is more vertical than positive polarity lightning. The negative charges deep down would repel this kind of lightning.
Or maybe I have those backwards but my point is that if the skin had sufficient charge to repel lightning and that charge was layered so positive was on the top and negative was on the bottom, the most a humanoid would get is a 2nd degree burn from the lightning strike.
But this electrical charge comes with its own complications, including reproduction(repelled or stuck together).
So I am assuming that their skin is like that of a human, no significant electrical charge.
The homes my humanoids live in are mostly underground but there are parts of it that are up on the surface. My humanoids, at least in their first civilization, live in a grassland much like the prairies in the USA. This area of grassland is surrounded by forest where they hunt most of their prey, including the occasional bear.
This comes with multiple risks during a thunderstorm.
If a humanoid happens to be in the forest hunting when a thunderstorm comes, the humanoid should crouch down so that the electricity travels through 1 leg and out the other without causing cardiac arrest. Since electricity can induce muscle contraction, if they already got their prey, they should hold it while crouched down and keep the prey from touching the ground or the humanoid's legs to avoid the meat getting tough.
If a humanoid is out in the open grassland and doesn't know where home is(children are more likely to have this happen than adults), the humanoid should crouch down and preferably, call for help.
And even if lightning doesn't actually strike them, there is another risk that is equally dangerous, That is a rapidly spreading wildfire caused by lightning striking the grass. It could burn down everything in the surface chambers but if it is rapidly spreading across the grass, it is more important that the humanoids get underground ASAP. A more controlled fire in the forest would give them enough time to get all the surface chamber stuff in underground storage before it gets to the grass if it even gets there.
So if there is no wildfire, just a thunderstorm, will the humanoids be safe in the surface chambers from lightning strikes or should they go underground regardless of whether or not there is a wildfire?