However, Babcock Ranch, a massive residential community located only 12 miles from the southwestern coast where Ian made landfall, survived – almost without a scratch.
The developer of the mixed-use project built with resilience in mind. Indeed, the difference resilience planning makes can be seen in the impact that Hurricane Ian had on the area near Fort Myers compared to Babcock Ranch.
Parts of Cape Coral and Fort Myers were completely destroyed, whereas even after being hit by the Category 4 storm for over 10 hours, Babcock Ranch survived with no structural damage, needing only minor cosmetic repairs.
How did Babcock Ranch survive Hurricane Ian? Three resilient building factors had a huge effect on the positive outcome for Babcock Ranch after the hurricane hit the area:
1) Higher Elevation
Kitson built the homes at 25 feet above sea level.
The higher finished floor elevations and road elevations helped the community avoid the most severe flooding that wiped out homes at lower elevations where storm surges combined with high winds to cause massive destruction.