The St George’s Club is seeking to install lightning protection measures after recent damaging strikes on the East End establishment.

A recent planning application sought permission to install two lightning-rod systems on the Rose Hill property to help protect visitors as well as the hotel’s infrastructure.

Documents included in the planning paperwork noted a recent lightning strike in St George’s which injured a visitor, as well as two lightning strikes that damaged the property in recent years.

One incident report, dated July 11, 2023, said that a lightning strike disrupted the hotel’s air conditioning network causing widespread failures in multiple units. It blamed inadequate electrical grounding as the primary cause.

A second incident report, dated August 28 this year, said a severe lightning strike had again impacted the hotel’s air conditioning with two indoor cabin units sustaining irreparable damage.

It hit on the same day that a man was thrown to the ground and injured when a bolt struck at Clearwater Beach.

Unstable weather passing over the island this summer resulted in a string of lightning strikes, including a storm that knocked out electricity in the West End.

The planning report found that the absence of a lightning protection system left the St George’s Club vulnerable and recommended instillation of lightning rods and improved grounding.

“Together, these reports and media coverage demonstrate the urgent and repeated vulnerability of St George’s Club and its surrounding areas to lightning strikes, with serious consequences for infrastructure, public safety and visitor welfare,” the report said.

The application proposed using a Faragauss lightning protection system, which is designed to allow faster and more controlled dissipation of electricity than conventional lightning rods.

The first of the two rods would be installed on the northern side of the property, with the second on the western side.

The documents requested the application be reviewed and approved, stating the project would help to “safeguard the property, its occupants and the broader tourism infrastructure of Bermuda”.