It had been raining for four days.
It was raining, and in the brief flashes of lightning, she could see a tree down in the back yard.
It was raining very hard and he had a very large umbrella to keep off the rain-drops.
Yes. It's still raining, but it isn't lightning any more.
Equally, the device of raining down trash seems too solitary a gesture to convey an overall sense of chaos.
