The recent slew of typhoons and the massive deluge that followed brought unprecedented destruction, especially on riverside communities and low-lying regions that are prone to flooding.
Here, most vehicle owners caught unaware were unable to save their prized wheels from the fast-rising floodwaters.
But for a quick-thinking car owner, saving his Mitsubishi Xpander meant making it float. And to do that, YouTube user Daddy M Castro thought of one ingenious solution — wrap the entire vehicle in water resistant canvas tarp.
In two short videos, Castro showed that he was able to shield the car from water by completely wrapping the underside of the vehicle with canvas tarp. Once fully enveloped, the canvas tarp not only protected the vehicle from harm, it also lifted the Mitsubishi Xpander enough to avoid total immersion.
But there’s no magic or luck here, only science. The phenomenon known as Archimedes’ principle — which states that an object immersed in a fluid will float if its buoyant force is greater than its weight — is responsible for making the car buoyant enough to rise alongside the water level.
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“Ito po yung idea na gusto ko lang i-share sa inyo. So baha po dito sa amin, sa Vista Verde, Cainta. So yun pong Xpander namin, hindi po namin nadala sa mall pero buti na lang, meron kaming idea dito na meron kaming lona. So nilagay po namin sya sa lona at nakalutang po sya, floating Xpander. Tapos lagyan nyo lang po ng tali,” Castro narrates in the video.
For those still skeptical, a second video clearly shows a person easily moving the floating car as if it weighed nothing — even when floodwaters reached almost waist-deep.
Watch how he did it below: