Storms in the Drakensberg Wilderness

"WE HIKE THE WILDERNESS, SO THAT WE FILL THE SOUL, MILE AFTER ENDLESS MILE, WITH THE GOODNESS OF NATURE.”

UNKNOWN

Storms in the Drakensberg Wilderness

The magnificence and tremendous impact of a storm in the Drakensberg has to be seen to be believed. First come the black clouds, enmeshed with billowing soft puff-balls of gleaming white. It grows ominously darker and the clouds are heavy as lead. There is a distant growl of thunder. And suddenly the storm is upon you. The cloud is split by a fiery javelin of white-hot light, a sharp crack which merges instantly with the mighty roll of thunder, and you know the dreaded thunderbolt has struck not far from you. And then they come, one after another, hammer-blows, and you stand appalled at the fury of the storm. Sometimes so rapid are the discharges that the whole sky and the boiling clouds seem to throb and glow with fire. Cataracts of flame pour down on the earth, glowing like molten iron, and the roar of the storm is an unending, deafening cacophony of sound.

No wonder the ancients thought they were witnessing the anger and black hatred of their gods. Modern science, of course, has explained much of the wonder of the storm, especially the mechanics of lightning, but still there is much that we do not know, much that is still unpredictable.

We know that as the thundercloud builds up it becomes a huge dynamo, generating millions of volts of electricity. Then a separation of electrical charges takes place, the positive charge streaming to the top of the cloud and the negative to the bottom.

Then, by a complicated interaction of electrical forces, the negative charge at the bottom of the cloud induces a positive charge on the earth below it. As the cloud passes slowly over the countryside, it draws the positive charge below on the ground after it, and the two drift together, down-wind.

It is, of course, a well-known fact that if a positive charge is brought into contact with a negative charge, electrons flow from one to the other. But the two charges do not necessarily have to touch. If they are brought close enough together, the electrons will jump the gap, causing a spark. The spark is nothing more than air intensely super-heated to 30 000 degrees Celsius in a split second. No wonder you hear a crack (the air expanding with the heat) when you touch the two terminals of your car battery together. And no wonder you hear a mighty roar of thunder, and see a spear of light, when the lower terminal of the cloud and earth come close enough together.

One consequence of all this is that lightning, contrary to popular believe, does not strike down. Actually, three things happen almost simultaneously. First there is certainly a downward discharge of electricity, about one million volts in barely one hundredth of a second. But then there is a surge of high voltage electricity flashing back up the original path, again in a minute fraction of a second. It is the second, upward flash that does the killing. Lastly, there is a sustained and longer charge between the cloud and the earth, lasting for about one-tenth of a second. It is this charge that burns or melts the object struck. The total voltage, in a single flash of lightning, can reach 100 million volts. Of course, all this can also take place between one cloud and another, if they are differently charged. High-speed photography has proved all this.

Heat is the main killer. When a tree is struck by lightning it looks as if the bark has been split open. That is exactly what has happened. The intense heat, passing through the core of the tree, causes the sap to expand explosively, and to burst open the enclosing bark. The electric current runs through the roots and trunk and out through the branches and leaves, raising the temperature in the flash of a second to millions of degrees centigrade.

Lightning is completely unpredictable. There are certain general rules, but the main rule appears to be that these are continually broken! For instance, climbers are told to avoid high points during a storm, on the theory that lightning will always strike the highest point. But often, sitting on a hillside during a storm, you will see lightning striking down in the valleys below. Even so, it is a wise precaution to choose low, flat ground (not a slope) as a place to sit out a storm.

What other precautions can one take? First of all, on no account shelter under an isolated tree. Clumps of trees, or forests, are safer, but it is better to even avoid these. Also, keep away from wire fences, posts, horses, and cattle. If you are mounted, dismount and move away from your horse. Drop anything metal you are carrying, and don’t, whatever you do, run for shelter. Running seems to produce a magnetic field which can attract lightning.

Deep caves are safe, but avoid shallow caves and overhangs, and also cracks and chimneys, especially if water is flowing down them.

The safest place in a storm is a car or a building. There is some evidence that in a dry storm the bodywork of a car can be damaged by lightning, but there is no known case where a person sitting in a car has been killed or even injured.

If you have no car or house in which to shelter, the best course is to sit down on some insulating material, such as a sleeping bag, draw your knees up, put your arms around them, and sit the storm out. It is a good idea to drape something like a cape around you. Don’t lie down and down stand up. Above all, don’t panic. Remember that, statistically speaking, it is extremely unlikely that you will be hit.

Actually, although African huts in the Drakensberg are often struck by lightning with fatal results (thatched huts are potentially very dangerous, South Africa holds a world record in this respect. Some years ago a hut in which 64 locals were holding a party was struck by lightning, and 61 were killed instantly.), very few climbers and hikers have been struck.

Two incidents are worth mentioning. Years ago 2 climbers were standing in the middle of a group of horses. Lightning struck and killed the 2 climbers and a horse. Years later, at Injasuthi, a park Ranger, his girlfriend and a dog was standing in one of the most exposed positions one could imagine – the highest point on a bleak, remote and rock-scarred plateau, next to some Protea trees - watching an approaching storm coming from Monks Cowl. Then came a freak thunderbolt – one blinding flash of light – and left all 3 dead.

Don’t take a chance, respect the mountains and her weather patterns, and always play it safe.

We as hikers, explorers, and adventurers have the absolute duty to respect and protect our Wildernesses. Nobody else will do it for us. Take ownership!

The End.

Safe Hiking.