Out For The Count
Lightning flashed across the sky. Black clouds were piled up like an avalanche of rocks waiting to crash on our heads, and rain streamed down our faces. It was coming down vertically. I stopped in mid-sentence and started counting under my breath. one thousand, two thousand, three thousand ... The age-old method of roughly calculating how far away the core of the thunderstorm is: count the “long seconds” between the lightning and the following thunder. Each second counted is considered to represent one kilometre. As a general rule of thumb, if it’s any closer than eight, get the hell out of wherever you are and take shelter. four thousand, five thousand ... As someone who takes people out bush for adventure activities for a living, this is a crucial concept, especially where water is concerned: any closer than eight kilometres to the storm lightning comes precariously close to where you are, and if you are in or on any k...