Buoy houses fight floods

A student of Hong Bang International University has just created a model of flood-resistant houses with the desire to serve people in the central region, which is suffering from severe consequences of floods.

Pham Huu Thuy (right) in the awards ceremony
Design competition for rural houses in flooded areas. (Photos provided by characters)

"Every year, my family and the people in my hometown live in fear. Floods become an obsession for the people of the Central Region. Floods cause the houses of houses, crops and livestock to be washed away. all, hundreds of people were killed , " said Pham Huu Thuy, from Bo Trach district, Quang Binh, about the idea of ​​creating a flood-proofing house.

Thuy said that the house against flooding is a local solution while waiting for the rescuers to be able to safely and quickly transfer people and livestock when floods come.

Simple design house, there is an automatic float system every time the flood rises. Buoy is placed under the floor near the kitchen. In the house, there are gas stove systems and wood stoves.

Half of the roofs are covered by cold corrugated iron, with emergency exit by buoy system when floods rise.

The other half is poured reinforced concrete to cover the rain to cover the rain, making places to dry agricultural products in the dry season and the shelter of people and cattle when floods come. When the flood rises, the reach will be put on the roof by a double pulley system fixed to the cold steel roof.

When the flood comes, the buoy system will lift the house. In case the water is submerged in the ceiling, the buoy will continue to emerge through the emergency exit but still keep its balance in the large water flow due to the ligament system in the four corners. When the flood recedes, the buoy will automatically drop to the original position.

Flood proof housing model. (Photos provided by characters)

The design model of water has a cost of about 200-250 million. Realizing that this price is too high compared to low-income farmers, Thuy corrected the topic more completely, lowering the price to about VND 150 million.

'The cost of 150 million is still high, but in terms of effectiveness later, this price I think is acceptable ,' Thuy said.

Hong Bang International University is preparing to build a model house according to Thuy's anti-flood house model. Non-governmental organization 'East West reunion' will combine with Thuy to bring this model back to local reality.

Pham Huu Thuy's anti-flood model has just won an outstanding award in the design competition "Rural housing in flood and storm areas" organized by the Association of Architects.