The Floodhopper has been designed for flash flood disasters areas. Its main features that make it different from other rescue boats, is that it can be inflated from inside the home or the occupied building. This life raft is capable of feeding through narrow stairways and doorways, enabling the victims to escape in safety without entering the cold flood waters. It can be inflated using a small compressed air canister, and automatically inflates like today’s lifejackets. The user then uses the supplied folding paddles to maneuver through debris and onto open water.
The main goal would be that a whole community that lives in a high flood risk zone would have Floodhopper within their home, for those just in case situations. These rafts would then link together as a modular ‘train’, so the emergency services could then pull them to further safety if needs be.
Designer : James Barford
The benefit for a self rescue option when in such a disaster, is that when a flood happens, the rescue services are inundated with SOS calls. With FloodHopper design it can relieve the rescue attempts on able bodied users, and allow the rescue services to get to the elderly and disabled. Its potential for international recognition would be massive with the increase in flooding and its relation to global warming.
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Tuvie has received “FloodHopper” project from our ‘Submit A Design‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their design/concept for publication.
Something like this would come in handy for most – if not all – flood-prone regions. I’m not saying that things like drains will fail every time it rains, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared for the worst, now does it?
I think those inflatable and connected rafts will be useful for cruise ships. It will make for better safety during emergency situations where passengers need to go overboard for safety. Design and innovation will help cruise liners with survival technology.
They should make having something like this standard procedure for every home within flood-prone areas. It pays to have a back up in case the drains get overwhelmed by water.