Amiga.org
Coffee House => Coffee House Boards => CH / General => Topic started by: adz on February 15, 2007, 11:50:54 AM
-
Storm clouds make fantastic subjects and with all the thunderstorm activity around Melbourne, it was too good to pass up. As I wandered up the little hill near my house I felt a tad uneasy then boom, a giant bolt of lightning appeared in the distance. I counted down until I heard the thunder, 9 seconds, that put the centre of the storm at least 9 kilometres away. I thought to myself, that should give me a bit of time to get a few snaps and then I'll head back.
I set up my tripod, adjusted my camera and started reeling off shots. I stood for a moment in awe at the colour of the clouds, when it happened. Now please bare in mind, neither I, nor the doctors are 100% as to exactly what happened. I turned to my left and a second later, to my right, was a giant flash followed by a big "pop". At this point I'm pretty sure I momentarily blacked out as I can't really recall much else. When everything started to come back into perspective, my heart was pounding and I felt like I was going to collapse, I knew what had happened, but I couldn't figure out what to do. I stumbled for a bit, checked my camera (including the last image I took), folded my tripod up and stumbled home.
Apparently I was as white as a ghost, I was obviously alive, but we weren't sure what state I was in. There is a local doctor around the corner, so the missus bundled me up in the car and we headed straight there. We're not sure if the lightning actually struck me or if it was just a really close call, either way, I'm very lucky to be alive. I can't recall feeling any pain, but I was in shock for a good few hours after and I still feel pretty crap. I guess its my own stupid fault for one, going out into a storm, and two, going alone. Anyway, as I said I'm still feeling a pretty crap, so I'll finish up and return to some serious pondering, thanks for reading.
-
Blimey dude!
Were you the only tall thing in a wide radius? Sounds like it struck nearby. There's enough charge running through the ground where you are standing to stun you. Apparently it happens to cattle a lot (or so a friend tells me).
-
dang man i hope you are alright jeez that is bad.
from the sound of your description i wonder if the sound pressure threw you down to the ground and knocked you out? were you badly bruised?
-
So, what are the chances that on developing the images, he finds a quirky self potrait of himself resembling a dark skeleton at the centre of a dazzling white glow, complete with electric blue corona and fractured tendrils of lightning streaming outward in all directions?
-
that sounds like a rock concert :lol:
-
Jeez ADZ, I'm glad to hear that you're in one piece, if a little shaken up.
I had my own brush with the grim reaper during a storm in January 1990 and the knowledge that I'd come a hairs width from being killed sure shook me up - and that's before you take into account the residual effects of your electric shock.
-
I counted down until I heard the thunder, 9 seconds, that put the centre of the storm at least 9 kilometres away.
As speed of sound is 344 m/s in air at sea level, that meant the lightning was about 3km far away, not 9.
Glad you're ok, though. Quite a great experience to go through... if you come alive out of it. ;-)
-
Glad to see you're okay.
Look on the bright side though - you've got something to bore the grandkids with years down the line :-D
-
Adz you were lucky old bean. And you now have something in common with me, except mine was a closer call. You definitely weren't hit, my good man. You would have had burnt armpits and a burnt arse-crack from the surface moisture being superheated.
Here's my close call: I was working a night shift in Johannesburg back in the late nineties and a bad storm was putting on a show. The rain was so hard that I decided to take the car from the hospital residence and drive round the block and park in the underground staff parking. The theory was that I could only get wet while getting to the car, and maybe a little bit while reaching out of the car window to tap my electronic pass on the gate reader at the parking.
All was good, I got in the car and drove round. I got to the underground parking entrance and wound down my window and reached out with my card.
And that's when the car got whacked. It was the same deal: more of a loud pop than any kind of Hollywood sound effect. Everything went white, the whole lot, and I froze. I wondered if my chips were being cashed in. Had there been any amount of urine or faeces available for evacuation, then the interior of that Ford Sapphire would have got a new decor :lol:
-
@all who've replied thus far
Thank you for the well wishes, besides a huge headache and a bit of tightness in my chest, I've felt a lot better today. At least I got a day off work. Spent the day at my parents house watching "Benny Hill" and "The Goodies" DVDs.
@Karlos
The nearest tree was a around four metres away, I doubt the lightning hit me, still waaaaay to close for comfort, but the doctor did insist that it was still a possibility. As for photos, I took a quick look and no, theres nothing like that, damn it, probably would have made the whole ordeal worth it :lol:
@jkirk
Not a mark on me, I didn't even hit the ground, just blacked out momentarily. TBH, I really don't know what happened.
@PMC
Yup, its a damn scary experience, I'm lucky it didn't turn into one of those brown moments :lol:
@falemagn
The counting method is a concept that was past from generation to generation, guess nobody has ever given it much thought.
@Vincent
Great another boring story, guess I'll be able to get them to sleep quickly :lol:
@X-ray
I too doubt I was hit, it was the doctor who said it was a possibility, TBH, I have no idea what happened. As for surface moisture, what surface moisture, the drought has made the ground as dry as a nuns... Whatever happened, I've felt like crap ever since, although I'm feeling better. I'm glad neither of us had to endure a brown moment :-D
-
@falemagn
Really, if you are going to be precise to the nearest metre per second, you better start factoring in the effects of the air density, temperature and any prevailing wind conditions :-D
It could have been anything from 320 - 360m/s....
-
"...As for surface moisture, what surface moisture, the drought has made the ground as dry..."
-------------------------------------------------------
I mean sweat, on you.
There have been many cases where workers in the fields have been hit and the sweat has conducted most of the bolt. These guys have had bad skin burns.
-
i wasn't sure if i should post this. but i am sure you need all the info you can get if the current of the strike hit you.
lightening strikes (http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic299.htm)
-
X-ray wrote:
"...As for surface moisture, what surface moisture, the drought has made the ground as dry..."
-------------------------------------------------------
I mean sweat, on you.
There have been many cases where workers in the fields have been hit and the sweat has conducted most of the bolt. These guys have had bad skin burns.
Ahh, sorry mate, brains not working so good anymore :crazy:
-
@jkirk
Thank you very much for the link, proving most usful in trying to determine exactly what happened.
-
(http://www.avatargraveyard.extropia.co.uk/av/msc_01.gif)
*ducks*
-
Hehe, I think that should be Adz's new avatar, since he was almost turned into a macro Adz by the finger of Zeus :-P
-
...or is it Thor?
-
Speaking of brown undies and a brush with death, here is a good one:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=eZPOfwVhokI
-
@Karlos
:roflmao:
Will resize it and set myself a new avatar soon :lol:
-
There you go guys, what could have been my last photo:
(http://i5.pbase.com/g6/57/719657/3/74459908.ljF8SSxh.jpg)
And the link in case PBase decides to poo itself again:
Clickety-click (http://www.pbase.com/adz929/image/74459908/original)
-
Hi Adz,
I studied lightning as part of the electrical safety component of my engineering degree. As mentioned before, lightning has a current distribution. From what you described, it sounds like you received peripheral current through your body. It seems that you were 'struck by lightning', but didn't get the worst of it. Also, when lightning strikes the earth, the charge has to spread through the ground, often resulting in ground currents over an area wider than the conduction path through the air (depends on local conductivity of the ground).
The peak current can cause severe burns, and heart failure. From what you described of your chest sensations, I'm guessing you experienced some muscular seizure in your heart. The current could well have temporarily disrupted the electrical activity in your brain as well.
Sorry to hear about all this, and hope all is well for you.
Oli
-
At the risk of being entirely tactless and tasteless...
(http://www.extropia.co.uk/img/bzzzzpt.jpg)
-
@adz
Gorgeous, atmospheric photo that.
@Karlos
:lol:
-
I've been thinking about these brushes with death and my conclusion may surprise many of you.
I believe these brushes with death are a good thing (provided no permanent injury is sustained). I have had a few of these and I can only tell you that it makes you appreciate life and makes you feel alive after you realise your chips were almost cashed in. I thought I would list my memorable encounters:
1) Almost drowned in rough seas in Port Alfred. I was swimming alone late one afternoon and got caught by an undercurrent. It was like being in a washing machine. I just couldn't surface. Only by going further down and crawling along the sand could I escape the undertow. By the time I surfaced I was breathing in water. That's my closest brush with death. If I hadn't gone down, there would have been no X-ray today. That was when I was 16.
2) I failed to see a black mamba snake while peering into a bush in Tzaneen. I thought it was a plastic bag rustling in the wind. When I finally resolved the source of the noise (like when you finally 'see' the shape in those random stereodot images) I realised that the fukka was not more than 15cm away from my face and he was tasting the air, his eyes fixed on me. My heart skipped a beat while I made myself scarce. That was when I was 14 or 15.
3) Lightning hit my car (as mentioned above). In my 20s.
4) Several incidents involving armed individuals.
-
X-ray wrote:
If I hadn't gone down, there would have been no X-ray today.
Don't you just love quoting out of context?
-
Well, I learned from that day onwards that going down can save you a whole lot of trouble :-P
-
@Oliver
It was one freaky experience I tell you, damned eerie thinking back. I'm so very glad I'm here to tell you all about it, certainly gives you a new outlook on life, not that this is the first time I've cheated death.
@Karlos
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
@Vincent
Thank you very much, I'm planning on getting this one enlarged and framed, will make boring the grandkids even easier :lol:
@X-ray
You are spot on mate, life for me, couldn't be better.
-
@ Adz
I must say, now that I think back on it, when I was 12 I took a nice jolt off some Christmas tree lights I was testing (the quick way, by leaving them switched on ;-) )
I didn't like being made to fall over, but once I got up and realised I was okay I felt pretty good the rest of the day.
I wonder if that is the mechanism for 'shock therapy?'
-
X-ray wrote:
I didn't like being made to fall over, but once I got up and realised I was okay I felt pretty good the rest of the day.
I wonder if that is the mechanism for 'shock therapy?'
Or even 'sock therapy', if you happen to live in Chiswick?
-
X-ray wrote:
Well, I learned from that day onwards that going down can save you a whole lot of trouble :-P
Quite so. In fact "going down" will make your life immeasurably better if one is betrothed. ;-)
-
X-ray wrote:
I've been thinking about these brushes with death and my conclusion may surprise many of you.
I believe these brushes with death are a good thing (provided no permanent injury is sustained). I have had a few of these and I can only tell you that it makes you appreciate life and makes you feel alive after you realise your chips were almost cashed in. I thought I would list my memorable encounters:
1) Almost drowned in rough seas in Port Alfred. I was swimming alone late one afternoon and got caught by an undercurrent. It was like being in a washing machine. I just couldn't surface. Only by going further down and crawling along the sand could I escape the undertow. By the time I surfaced I was breathing in water. That's my closest brush with death. If I hadn't gone down, there would have been no X-ray today. That was when I was 16.
2) I failed to see a black mamba snake while peering into a bush in Tzaneen. I thought it was a plastic bag rustling in the wind. When I finally resolved the source of the noise (like when you finally 'see' the shape in those random stereodot images) I realised that the fukka was not more than 15cm away from my face and he was tasting the air, his eyes fixed on me. My heart skipped a beat while I made myself scarce. That was when I was 14 or 15.
3) Lightning hit my car (as mentioned above). In my 20s.
4) Several incidents involving armed individuals.
Blimey!
(http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/images_tv/somemothers_88734.jpeg)
-
@adz
Hope you have recovered nicely mate. Though if you were a couch potato, none of this would have happened! ;-)
-
X-ray wrote:
- - - -
3) Lightning hit my car (as mentioned above). - - -
That's the safest place to be in a lightning storm - unless the petrol gets ignited....then you have a choice.
JaX
-
Hey glad to hear that your ok.
-
@CannonFodder
Well I've been a couch potato since :-P Thanks mate :-)
@Andy
Thanks mate :-)
<---- Argh, 2000 bloody posts, one more and I loose my "Defender of the Faith" title :-(
-
adz wrote:
<---- Argh, 2000 bloody posts, one more and I loose my "Defender of the Faith" title :-(
Is it quite tight at the moment? :-P
-
@ adz
I was watching the news on Thursday and some German bird who was paragliding in Austrailia got caught in a storm and was whisked up to about 30,000 ft. According to ITV news. Was wondering if it was the same storm you got caught up in.
-
Vincent wrote:
adz wrote:
<---- Argh, 2000 bloody posts, one more and I loose my "Defender of the Faith" title :-(
Is it quite tight at the moment? :-P
Ya, muscles still haven't fully relaxed :lol:
<---- There...You pushed me over the edge, are you happy :-P
-
Andy wrote:
@ adz
I was watching the news on Thursday and some German bird who was paragliding in Austrailia got caught in a storm and was whisked up to about 30,000 ft. According to ITV news. Was wondering if it was the same storm you got caught up in.
May very well have been part of the same band of cloud, but I doubt it was the same storm as that happened a good 800+kms North.
-
adz wrote:
<---- There...You pushed me over the edge, are you happy :-P
Glad I could help :-D
-
adz wrote:
Vincent wrote:
adz wrote:
<---- Argh, 2000 bloody posts, one more and I loose my "Defender of the Faith" title :-(
Is it quite tight at the moment? :-P
Ya, muscles still haven't fully relaxed :lol:
Eat plenty of Weetabix! ;-)
-
adz:
:-o That sounded far too close for comfort! Im glad you read you are ok.
When I was younger I almost got swept out to sea by a strong under current. It was all I could manage to swim diagonally through the current - so that I was effectively moving at right angles to it - to get to safety. It took almost all my stamina to get across a relatively short distance.
-
adz wrote:
(http://i5.pbase.com/g6/57/719657/3/74459908.ljF8SSxh.jpg)
It izzniiice, I liiike! Do you have a Flickr a/c dude?
Glad you're okay... What an adventure!
-
@mel_zoom
Yah, feeling really good now, thank you. Sounds like you yourself are quite lucky to be here, glad you got out alright too :-)
@NFM
Thanks and thanks, I've actually had quite a lot of good feedback on this shot, so I've entered it into a photo comp, might have made it all worth it :lol: BTW, no Flickr, but I have accounts on PBase (http://www.pbase.com/adz929) and deviantART (http://adz929.deviantart.com/).
-
adz wrote:
PBase (http://www.pbase.com/adz929)
You knicked my cat?!
Mr Tiger looks like Obideah's identical twin if he had one :-D
-
Vincent wrote:
adz wrote:
PBase (http://www.pbase.com/adz929)
You knicked my cat?!
Mr Tiger looks like Obideah's identical twin if he had one :-D
Weren't me guv, I swear! :-D
Tiger is one of mum's cats, mind you, he is far from ferocious ;-)
-
adz wrote:
he is far from ferocious ;-)
:-o :lol: sounds exactly like Obi.
He's an embarrassment to cats ;-)
He doesn't like the wind, rain, snow or any weather that isn't sunny. He stares out all the other cats who walk within 50 yards of our house.
He is an indoor cat (got eczema and the virus that causes cat flu so he can easily kill off other cats :-(), but still, that's no exceuse.
Pathetic is too good a word for him :-D
I'll try and find a decent photo of him soon.
-
Did the doctor say how long it would be before you get your super powers?
-
FluffyMcDeath wrote:
Did the doctor say how long it would be before you get your super powers?
Would chest pain and headaches be considered super powers, if so, then I've already got them.
-
Does that mean you're abandoning your attempt to go for the world record (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Sullivan) ?
"The next hit happened in a ranger station. The strike set his hair on fire. After that, he began to carry a pitcher of water with him."
-
X-ray wrote:
...I believe these brushes with death are a good thing (provided no permanent injury is sustained)...
Yep, much agreed. Had a few of these too. Changes one's outloook somewhat. Reminds me somewhat of the movie Ghost Dog. You only truely live, when you live as though you've already died. It puts things in perspective, to value the time one has.