Set the alarm for 5:34 p.m.

Web alarm clock for 5:34 p.m.

While you wait for 5:34 pm, keep an eye on the clock and leave the flood supplies grouped near the stairs, ready to carry upstairs at the appointed moment. Starting then gives you 26 minutes before 6:00 pm, enough for several careful trips without rushing on wet steps or blocking the landing.

Because these supplies need moving before floodwater rises, keep the alarm page open while you wait. Closing its tab or the browser ends the alarm, so the supplies may remain downstairs when 5:34 pm arrives. Your phone or computer also needs to stay awake, with the sound turned up to a level you can hear over conversation, rain, electric fans, or activity elsewhere in the house.

As your planned supply move approaches, listen for how the household and street noise shifts toward early evening. In many Philippine neighbourhoods, 5:34 pm can bring passing tricycles, people returning home, barking dogs, and cooking sounds. Place the alarm nearby instead of across a noisy room, and choose a clear tone that stands apart from the surrounding sounds. This also lets you hear it without setting the volume so high that it startles anyone helping on the stairs.