Translation of Aufflammen

He also told me that he had build his scooter by himself. I could not understand how a doctor was able to build such a machine on his own. It seems that the circumstances made people capable of many things.
Right after desert it started to rain and it poured so that the entire camp got flooded. A few minutes later the electricity disappeared because of the water and we were sitting in the dark.
The days before I left to Mexico and Cuba I started to track the hurricanes in the region. September was not the ideal time to visit the region, but it fitted the best according to my previous boss.