Tip 49: Check the weather before you head out

Its been a sad month to know of both the Myanmar cyclone and the earthquake at China claiming tens of thousands of lives. I just watched The Day After Tomorrow movie before writing this post and global warming is at the top of my mind. Even Al Gore used it to refer to the Myanmar cyclone. According to him, hurricanes and storms have been part of seasonal weather conditions, but of late we have been seeing many Category 5 storms. I am personally being more concerned for my safety now as a dad than before I got married. As a teen, I used to want to be a hero in crisis situations (influenced by Hollywood movies) of how I plan to save others and myself. But, precautions are more on my mind these days than thinking of how to act during those situations. I am also personally more concerned for hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones than earthquakes. This site on earthquakes mentioned that earthquakes are not necessarily more frequent these days, but because of increased seismographic stations, more transparent reporting of damages and better global communication, the world has greater fear of earthquakes. But, I would be preparing myself for the months of May, June, July as its the season for storms in the Northern Hemisphere (countries north of the equator). What we should do is check out weather reports before you go out and check online on storm updates when you are working that day. Most people are getting used with these typhoon updates, but its always better to be safe than sorry. Everywhere around the globe, global warming would affect more drastic storms and floods and daddies need to be aware of possible storms and floods so your family need not be trapped in such situations as far as possible.

I would only bring my umbrellas after checking the online weather report and so far, the weather reporting in Japan is almost 100% accurate. I am sure the same for many developed countries. Usually, we would be alerted of storms/typhoons few days in advanced. By 1-2 days, we would know if the approaching typhoon would be a small one or not. Almost all the time, it subsides when it reaches Tokyo, but would hit hard Tomomi's hometown - the island of Okinawa, south of Japan. But, still if it rains heavy, trains maybe stalled. I live just 20 minutes bicycle ride from my office and my home is on higher ground and away from the ocean. Decided to focus on good location fundamentals when purchasing my apartment. Tomomi have always had the habit of keeping a few bottles of mineral bottles in our home in case of an earthquake. In Japan, we have an earthquake warning system that automatically halts trains, gas and critical manufacturing processes. Also, the buildings are built to withstand most earthquakes and its sad that its the poorer countries that would suffer more in the face of such disasters. Basic necessities such as blankets and disaster centers are few and it will be miserable especially if disaster hits a poor country during winter such as happened to India previously. In Tokyo, most public schools are designated as disaster centers with a huge supply of water. After watching the movie today, another useful tip would be to use the public phone booths/office or home phone lines to contact family members should your cell phone signal be not available. The month of May/June is a month of typhoons. There will be a typhoon approaching Tokyo this coming Tuesday, but so far, it seems mild and just bringing some showers. In fact, the showers in Tokyo are of smaller magnitude than the torrential tropical rainfall back home in Malaysia. But Daddy is ready to be safe.