There was another lightning strike, followed soon after by another deafening boom. Shortly after that, I could feel the wind pick up significantly. The tent began to shake and the trees rustled loudly. Then the rain started. It was light at first, rapping gently against the tent, but it soon picked up, and, before long, it was coming down really hard. It was suddenly deafeningly loud in the tent and starting to get a little scary.

After what must have been at least five minutes of incredibly heavy rain, I grabbed a flashlight and pointed it outside. I could see that the rain had been coming down so hard and...