Function
Designed to withstand extreme weather, Babcock Ranch passed the test when the community did not lose power during 2022’s Hurricane Ian.
Babcock Ranch, Fla.
RESILIENCE: HURRICANES
Babcock Ranch, Fla. America’s first solar-powered town stands up to Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Standing up to any hurricane is no small feat, let alone one as savage as Hurricane Ian. With incessant 100-plus mph winds, rain, and catastrophic flood waters, Ian is said to have been the deadliest hurricane to hit Florida since 1935. But as Southwest Florida struggled against Ian’s brutal onslaught, at least one bright spot emerged.
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ARCHITECTURAL PRODUCTS
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Meet Babcock Ranch, located 12 miles northeast of Fort Myers. Built 30 miles inland and 30 ft. above sea level, Babcock Ranch has been designed since its inception to be environmentally friendly, fully sustainable, and able to withstand extreme weather events. For this reason, all utility lines are buried underground, and
it uses building codes that meet Category 4 storm standards. The precautions appear to have paid off. While nearby areas endured power outages and flooding during Hurricane Ian, despite wind gusts exceeding 150 mph, not one of the solar panels were taken by the storm and the lights at Babcock Ranch did not go out.
“The only people in Charlotte County with power were Babcock residents,” notes Amy Wicks, a Vice President at Kimley-Horn and a consulting civil engineer for Babcock Ranch. “We maintained power through the whole storm—across the street had no power, we had power.”
PROJECT SPECS
Project: Babcock Ranch, Florida Developer: Kitson & Partners—Syd Kitson, Chairman and CEO Civil Engineer: Kimley-Horn and a consulting civil engineer Images: Courtesy, Babcock Ranch
01 . 2023
1/30/23 11:02 AM