It’s been a rainy week. I’m not really a fan of this kind of weather for a number of reasons. It can get very cold and it triggers my allergic rhinitis. We can’t do the laundry. If we push it, our clothes won’t dry well. Water drips on my Mom’s kitchen. It gets so bad that she has to mop the mess 🙁  Trash gets piled up and they get stinky.

When rains turn into heavy downpour, it becomes difficult to travel. If you’re driving a car, visibility becomes poor. If you’re a public transport commuter, there’s a bigger chance of getting soaked and being stranded. Here in Metro Manila, when rains pour, traffic can get really, really slow even when there are no floods along the way.

On a greater scale, many of our kababayans who live beside the rivers, lakes and low lying areas have to leave their houses and stay at evacuation centers. Flood waters rise easily on days like this and fill their homes in no time. Same goes for those who live in mountainous regions. There are certain parts that erode and collapse resulting into landslides.

PAGASA issues weather bulletins on a daily basis as early as 5AM. Educate yourself with our country’s rainfall warning system and be informed so you would know what to do. I’ve only learned about these classifications last week. Here’s a useful illustration that I have found in my Twitter feed. Take note of it and share in your network. If you are a Twitter user, you might want to follow @dost_pagasa, @SkywaySOMCO and @MMDA for real time weather and traffic updates.

Rainfall Warning Classification

Let’s all pray that the weather gets better soon. Ingat! God bless everyone!