One of the advantages of living in a tropical country is that the weather is pretty much the same all year round. Yes the heat may be unbearable for most months, and monsoon during the middle to latter part of the year, but still during daytime, the heat is pretty much the same.

To date, we’ve had about 8 typhoons already with hitting Manila. Being a stay-at-home mom, I am not affected by the weather as long as I have my supplies and gadgets charged. Candles, emergency lights, food, water, and my phone.

My phone becomes the most important thing during this season because I need to know where my husband is when he’s traveling home from work. If there is no power outage, I stay beside the PC and use all means to monitor the traffic and flood reports. If by chance electricity dies down on me, I hurriedly subscribe to my phone’s internet service to continue my monitoring. I’m usually logged on the MMDA’s Twitter account because of their quick response rate. I usually get answers on traffic update within 5 minutes.

I know most people would say it’s definitely easier to navigate through floods than thick snow, and that would be true if our roads are maintained well. Because it’s not, it makes flooded areas very dangerous to sedan/compact cars that I sometimes just advise my husband and friends to wait it out somewhere.

Maybe it is harder are more dangerous in extreme snow. I really wouldn’t know because I haven’t personally experienced it. But one this is for sure, my friends on the other side of the world have surely invested in a set of tire chain for their vehicles. Yes, they may only use it a couple of days in a year but since most of my friends are moms too, it’s always safety first for our families.

Whether it’s a typhoon, snow or the recent dust storm reported in Phoenix AZ, it just always pays to be prepared. And being prepared for me includes a fully-charged phone and an internet connection. Thank the powers be for gadgets. It definitely makes me feel safer during the circumstances.