Fighting Water with Water - Temporary Flood Control

You don't actually have to have your home flood before you realize how devastating this can be. Just seeing people being rescued from rising waters and then dealing with the aftermath is heart breaking. The area where I live experienced extensive flooding last year during Hurricane Matthew, and now we have images of the overwhelming flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey and Irma. 

These terrible storms are a loud calling to the engineering community to design ways to help minimize the suffering caused by these monumental and costly events. While not a perfect solution for every situation, one idea I saw to reduce the damage caused by flooding is called an Aqua Dam. Using water to fight water, it can be rapidly installed around a single house or used to create a dry roadway through a flooded area. Very innovative, and while it is not inexpensive, weighing its cost against the cost of repairs from flooding, both monetary and psychological, it may be just be worth it. - Dr. Tom

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