Answer:
Kira Salak used the image of an "apocalyptic rain", infused with "lightning" and "thunder" to describe or reveal the tension that she feels at the beginning of her trip.
Explanation:
Kira Salak's travel narrative "The Cruelest Journey: 600 miles to Timbuktu," tells the journey of Kira Salak in her attempt to kayak alone on the River Niger. The story contains the heroic and courage of the young lady and her self mastery over the obstacles or problems she faced along the way.
At the start of the story/ narration, Salak admits "my journeys feel at best ludicrous, at worst insane. This one is no exception". She had planned on setting out but then was met with "a thunderstorm [that] burst open the skies, sending down apocalyptic rain". And it was in this description of the rains that Salak uses to present a visual description of the scene. She presents an image of disastrous and dangerous rain, thunderstorm, and lighting infused scene to reveal the dangerous scenario and also to communicate the tension that filled her at that point of time. The description continues "lightning pierce trees, slices across houses. Thunder racks the skies and pounds the earth like mortar fire and every living thing huddles in tenuous shelter, expecting the world to end".
