Rain causes power outages, ruins the training of athletes, creates puddles, and increases the likelihood of sickness

Graphic by Anamika Anand

I am sad and disgusted when it starts raining.

Even though California’s annual precipitation is typically relatively low, there are still periods during the year where several rainy days occur in a row — in fact, the majority of the state’s rainfall is from November to March. However, with consistent rainfall occurring this year in late March, it is safe to say that 2023 will be a rainier year than usual for California. The unprecedented amounts of rain this year has been caused by multiple atmospheric rivers coming into California. On Mar. 16, Fox 40 News reported that twenty nine atmospheric rivers have come into California since the start of October 2022.

While some Californians enjoy these rainy days, I find them to be absolutely miserable.

While I was excited to take a day off school during the Jan. 10 power outage, I soon realized that this had consequences outweighing its pleasures, even though my house never lost power that day. I still had homework assigned regardless, and my blue day classes moved at a faster pace, making it slightly more difficult to learn.

Additionally, I hate power outages even when they occur during breaks. It makes my day miserable, as I rely on electronic devices for entertainment and I will be unable to complete daily tasks that require the use of electronic devices. I could just use cellular data, but I do not like to spend money lavishly. Since I do not have any deadlines for any of my electronic tasks over winter break, I unfortunately opted to not use it.

Unfortunately, another power outage affected my house on Mar. 14. Even more frustrating was that I got power back four days later and internet back nine days later. Because of this, I was unable to do school homework that required the use of a computer without using a hotspot or going to the local library. I do not want to use my hotspot because it costs money and I hate how the local library closes at 9 in the afternoon two days a week and 6 in the afternoon five days a week, as it makes it much more difficult to finish my homework. Along with that, I had trouble doing work that did not require a computer because of my house’s inescapable darkness. These unfortunate circumstances caused me to sleep later and to have excessive stress.

Not only that, but also rain can also impede athletes like me from outdoor training. In January, I went outside to do a high-intensity training run immediately after the end of seventh period. I began my training session at four in the afternoon that day and finished two hours later. I was angered inside by the rain showers that occurred throughout the entire session, as it forced me to train in uncomfortably wet clothes. Along with that, I had to wait another fifteen minutes for my father to pick me up and I declined to put on my dry sweats immediately after the workout, which did not soothe my emotions.

A similar situation occurs when rain showers occur during a school day. I am forced to constantly dodge puddles while walking from class to class or walking to get lunch. It frustrates me to accidentally step into puddles that unexpectedly make my shoes and socks wet, causing me to feel discomfort there.

What makes it worse is that most of the time I do not even bring umbrellas to school during rainy days. I sometimes do not wake up extremely early because I am not a morning person and I do not go to bed early at night. Other times rain unexpectedly comes in the middle of the school day. Without an umbrella, my clothes get wet, and like I mentioned earlier, I feel uncomfortable in this scenario.

Regardless of whether I bring an umbrella or not to school during rainy days, I am still at a higher risk of getting sick in these conditions when compared to sunny days. I hate how rain causes bacteria on the ground to travel through the air and spread, which explains the higher risk. I am not trying to go to school to get sick.

Consequently, I hope that a normal spring will come sooner to wrap off this gloomy and unexpected rainy season.