3 Awesome Inventions we REALLY Need Along the Flood-prone Streets of Metro Manila.

What seemed like a light downpour early this morning has turned into a relentless shower over the roads of Metro Manila. As the rain marathon extends beyond the late hours of the afternoon, early class and work suspensions seem to have been negated as the floods cause a creature worse than the Loch-Ness monster herself to rear its ugly head — heavy traffic.

Don’t forget to check TrafficDito.com and download the TrafficDito iPhone app for flood updates!

Now, we’re obviously not the only ones fed up with all this. Some reports that pop up on TrafficDito.com during times like these… let’s just say we’d probably classify them as NSFW. And while a lot of us end up just whining about our sorry state, some people out there have actually done something about it! Okay, so they’re not exactly permanent solutions or anything, but hey, these things are pretty cool!

1. Flood-proof toilets

Hygiene and proper sanitation are always important issues brought up during the rainy season. Wading through floods is not just disgusting, it’s also bad for your health. In fact, even the smallest open wound exposed to floodwater is literally deadly.

Which is why a group of people in Thailand put their heads together to come up with these floating toilets. Specifically designed to keep floodwater cleaner for people forced to wade in knee-deep sewage and runoff, these things are pretty sweet. What I’m worried about though, is whether or not people ALREADY submerged from the waist down can hold it in until they get to one of these things.

2. Ziploc bags… for your cars.

Try to remember the look on people’s faces after watching Chris Lao’s car slowly submerge into the flood. I don’t know about you guys, but one of the first things that popped into my head was how much it’s going to cost to get that thing up and running again. That, plus the extra he’d have to shell out to get the smell of floodwater out. Blegh.

People spend tens of thousands of pesos for things like rust-proofing but who would’ve thought that an age-old technique for getting things waterproofed: wrap it in plastic. Even better? Some dude from the US had the “Flood Bag” patented. Genius.

3. Elevated Tricycles

It seems that Thai people are just so much better than us at preparing for floods. Aside from those floating toilets up there, check out these custom-built speed demons designed to keep you high and dry while cruising down flood-troubled parts of Bangkok:

Well they sure beat the Pedicabs we’ve got over here. I mean check out that one by the upper left! Is that a wheel ON TOP of another wheel? That’s some serious creativity and mechanical prowess right there. Wouldn’t it be awesome if our tricycles were amphibious?!

BONUS: A few more sort-of-useless but totally awesome inventions

Special shoutout to this blog dedicated to these crazy creations.

Too Cute. A doggie life vest!

Stools as Stilts = Stoolts. LOL.

DIY wakeboarding. Eat your heart out, CWC.

So aside from the misinformation of Chris Lao, what’s the weirdest/funniest thing you’ve seen along Metro Manila’s flooded streets?

-EJ, Product Marketing Padawan