Rainy season: Essential safety tips
SAFETY tips for rainy season can be a major concern for many people as excessive rain can ruin normal life patterns during monsoon.
Rain is a blessing from the Almighty as it is a harbinger of good fortune and happiness. Everyone loves rain as it brings cool weather.
Moreover, rain is essential to balance the groundwater levels and other major water resources.
However, excessive rains, especially in monsoon, are not desirable for many as they cause several problems.
Excessive rain often results in power breakdowns, floods, waterlogged streets, landslides and many other problems.
Additionally, people living in slums or areas with no proper drainage system are forced to migrate to other places.
Therefore, it is important to consider several safety measures before the start of the rainy season.
Pakistan’s smartest property portal brings you essential safety tips for rainy season to help you stay safe and secure.
The rainy season comes with numerous problems disrupting normal life and affecting the life of thousands of people.
For people living in deserts, rain is a blessing because of the scarcity of water resources. However, in urban areas, rain can cause serious miseries.
These are the most common problems faced by almost everyone living in urban areas during rainy seasons.
Apart from these external problems, there can be an outbreak of several diseases as well. The following are common illnesses and diseases that are caused due to excessive rainfall: Dengue, Flu, Common Cold, Food Infections, Cholera, Water Infections, Malaria.
These illnesses are caused due to improper drainage of water in the streets or houses, which leads to an outbreak of mosquitoes and other insects.
Pakistan has been through deadly dengue outbreaks during the last few years, causing the death of hundreds of people.
To avoid the above-mentioned problems during the rainy season, it is essential to adopt certain safety measures.
These safety measures not only keep diseases away but also help with several other problems.
Following are some of the best safety tips for rainy season that can help you: Presence of rain gear: Getting stuck in rain outside and being soaked can cause rapid changes in body temperature resulting in common cold, flu, or fevers.
To avoid these situations, the presence of essential rain gear such as raincoats and umbrellas is important.
It not only protects you from rainwater but also protects against diseases. Stock up items of everyday use: During excessive rain, streets get drained due to clogging and everyone tries to stay at home.
Shops and utility stores are also closed during this time leading to a shortage of necessities in the community.
Before the start of the rainy season, you must be aware of this factor and stock up on items of everyday use.
Due to excessive rainfall, problems might get intense and according to the situation you should be prepared.
Timely cleaning of drainage system: One of the major issues during the rainy seasons is the clogging of drains.
It leads to water accumulation in streets or courtyards of houses leading to overflowing of underground storm water tanks or gutters.
During heavy rainfall, not all rainwater gets soaked, and excessive water mainly enters the storm drains or underground water storage systems.
Roof maintenance: Roof leaks cause headaches for people during excessive rain. Most people are unaware of the conditions of roofs in their houses due to carelessness.
When monsoons rains come, these roofs start leaking and cause serious damage to house structures.
Presence of necessary drainage equipment: Apart from prior cleaning of the drainage system, you need to have necessary drainage equipment at your home in case of emergency clogs.
Hand-driven augers or snake cleaners are the most effective equipment to use in such conditions.
Protection of items in the yard, balcony, or garden: Monsoon rains are completely different from normal seasonal rains because of their excessiveness and long durations.
So, to prevent essential house items in the yard, balcony, or garden of houses from any kind of damage, you must shift them inside.
Protection and maintenance of electrical wires and equipment in house: During the rains or monsoons, there are higher chances of incidents related to electrical wiring and equipment in houses.
High-velocity, incessant winds, and furious thunderstorms cause electricity disruptions. Moreover, water accumulation can cause electrocution incidents.
Therefore, you must maintain and protect electrical wires and equipment in your house properly.
Following are some ways you can opt to make electrical equipment at your home safe and protected during the rainy season: Check for any malfunctions in outer electrical devices such as circuit breakers, sockets, plugs, switches and fuses that might be exposed to rainwater.
Get them replaced as soon as possible. Protection against bugs and insects: During excessive rainfall, mosquitoes, cockroaches, scorpions, ants, snakes, termites and others come out of the grounds.
They cause severe illnesses and diseases such as dengue, common colds, fever, flu, etc. Therefore, you must keep bugs at bay during monsoons or rainfalls.
Presence of an emergency kit: Flash flooding, incessant electricity breakdowns, thunderstorms and excessive water accumulations cause severe problems during the rainy season. Therefore, it is important to have an emergency kit at your home.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad.
