Why âincrediblyâ if it was purposefully so designed and well executed? It canât be harder than going to the moon and everyone is now doing it Yogi Berra is not going, itâs too crowded already. 
The Captain
In theory, it works. But people will only accept it after it is proven to actually workâyou know, âreal lifeâ. It will also mean cheaper insurance rates for homeowners in those types of communities because they will have a documented history of minimal damage during severe weather/hurricanes/etc. Insurance companies LOVE significantly lower risks of damageâand price insurance accordingly.
Before getting carried away with Babcock Ranch as an example, itâs important to remember that the most important element of their smart building was âbe located about 20 miles inland.â
Thatâs great advice, in theory. Hurricanes are mostly a coastal phenomenon. If youâre that far inland, you have no storm surge, and only have to manage freshwater flooding. Babcock Ranch is further off the coast than itâs possible to get almost anywhere in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or West Palm area. Being at an elevation of 33â is nice, too. But of course, thatâs not a âsmart buildingâ idea that can be implemented in an actual coastal area.
That was the point. It was consciously built at a location that eliminated a few major sources of damage. But, they did MORE than just âlocate smartâ. They looked at the natural tendencies of the land and then used them to their advantage. They ignored the âbuild upâ of stuff that ignored the natural layout of the land and what it did. They allowed natural land features to again be functionalâand it all worked. In other words, a planned community that would reasonably be able to survive most naturally-occurring storm events with minimal damage.
What might be done in a true coastal area is simple: The location might not be reasonably protectable/livable. So, LOOK ELSEWHERE.
That really is the great secret, isnât itâŚ
Pete
Yeah, I know. Iâve been to more than a few panel discussions on Babcock Ranch. After all, they promote the development a lot - which is not unusual for real estate developers, but they put a big bet on a large piece of land way out in the boonies. Their initial marketing push was to catering to Greens - sustainable living and such. Thatâs been their big differentiator. But after Ian, they made a pivot to emphasizing storm resiliency as well.
But mostly, itâs a bit of a sales job. Again, they did great during Ian because theyâre twenty miles inland. Almost any new development, whether built âallowing natural land features to be functionalâ or not, located that far inland is going to do very well during a hurricane. Because (again), theyâre miles and miles outside of the flooding areas and at a high elevation (for Florida).
Itâs just amusing to see how well theyâve managed the press over the years. I remember Babcockâs effort to get approvals back in the day (not only was it pretty controversial, but I tangentially worked on it back then) - and the opposition it received from environmental groups over the location. It was derided as the epitome of suburban sprawl and the development of natural land features to serve the needs of that sprawl.
Sticks in my mind, some years ago, when a storm blew through (Andrew?) the houses built by Habitat For Humanity held up measurably better than neighboring houses. The suggestion was that Habitat built well, while other developers were always trying to cut corners on the âintrusive, big gummit, job killing regs, that make the house you want cost moreâ.
Holey mackerel. I remembered that right.
Hereâs another article about how Habitat builds houses.
Itâs the advice for captains, when a hurricane happens be elsewhere. In 40 years of sailing I only had to deal with one hurricane, Bertha in Marina del Rey in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. I tied the boat in what looked like a spider web to make sure it would not hit anything solid and tied old tires to the dock as fenders. Having nothing else to do I went to sleep (on board).
There was a ferro cement boat in the marina and they were told to go elsewhere because it was considered a danger to the marina. They anchored on the south side of the island figuring it was the safest place but Bertha broke the rules and instead of hitting the west of the island it hit the south causing much devastation. The ferro cement boat cracked but stayed afloat and eventually managed to sail to Venezuela but it was doomed.
The article says, "just missing Puerto Rico. Not quite true, the eye of the hurricane passed over Marina del Rey.
Hurricane Bertha was an early season Cape Verde hurricane that started from a tropical wave that moved off the African Coast on July 1st. It was the first hurricane of the 1996 season and the first major hurricane in July since the 1926 season. It quickly progressed on a west-northwest track over the Virgin Islands before turning north-northwest and just missing Puerto Rico. It reached its peak intensity on July 9th with maximum wind speeds of 115 mph and a minimum pressure of 960 mb. Eventually the storm would turn on a north-northeast track and make landfall between Wrightsville and Topsail Beach, NC as a Category 2 hurricane on July 12th (Fig. 1).
https://www.weather.gov/mhx/Jul121996EventReview
The Captain