Blocking drains and stretching tarps reveal effective flood prevention techniques, saving a single house in just one hour with a budget of 2,000 baht.
On social media, photos have been shared of a house in Songkhla province located in a flood-prone area. However, this particular house was prepared by building a flood barrier along the fence line and using pumps to push water outwards.
The news team contacted a Facebook user named Wicharit Leelakorn. Mr. Wicharit Leelakorn said that because his house is in Na Mom district, Songkhla province, on the first day of flooding water entered the house up to about knee height. Later, the water receded enough to allow vehicles to leave, but out of four cars, three were flooded.
When the water receded, he went to buy equipment including a generator, tarps, and materials to build a flood barrier. He learned how to build the barrier from the internet and YouTube. Knowing the water level would not go beyond the wall, he decided to try it, especially since the weather forecast predicted continued rain.
If the flood barrier is built well, there will be no leaks allowing water into the house. The method used was:
1. Using bricks placed around the fence where it borders the outside area to anchor the tarp.
2. Sealing the house’s drainage pipes by blocking water entry at the pipe outlets outside the house. There were three pipes connected to the outside, all of which were sealed.
The materials used included a blue tarp 40 meters long, costing about 600 to 700 baht each. Two tarps were purchased and layered two to three times around the fence. The total cost was about 2,000 baht, excluding the cost of the generator.
Constructing the flood barrier took about one hour. After returning home, the water level rose again. Since the house was in a water passage, the water receded after about 12 hours.
This method of building a flood barrier can be effective, but in areas with very high flooding it may not work. It is advised to monitor weather forecasts and heed official warnings to protect one’s life as much as possible.