Last week, Hurricane Ian came barreling into southwest Florida as a category 4 storm. The storm destroyed Fort Myers and the nearby Naples areas with record-breaking surge and winds over 100 mph. It knocked out power to more than 2.6 million customers in southwest Florida. Hardest hit Lee and Charlotte counties were basically off the grid. But Babcock Ranch, located in Charlotte County, was the exception. All the lights stayed on. What makes life so different for the roughly 4,600 residents residing in an area among those hit hardest by the storm? It was the culture. Built on the basis of sustainability for a future of survival. Babcock Ranch calls itself ‘America’s first solar-powered town.’ Its solar farm — made up of 700,000 individual panels — generates more electricity than the 2,000-home neighborhood uses. All of the buildings and structures in the community are developed to withstand winds of up to 145 mph. The streets in this meticulously planned neighborhood were designed to flood so houses don’t. The community relies on native flora that is generally better able to handle Florida's extreme weather and also help control storm runoff and flooding. Power and internet lines are buried to avoid wind damage. To be sure Babcock Ranch rests on ground at least 25 feet or more above sea level – which the ranch says is beyond the reach of coastal storm surge. But, the climate resiliency built into the fabric of the town, with stronger storms in mind, may very well represent the blueprint for other coastal communities like my town of Emerald Isle to follow when taking steps to protect people and property. Here are three key components of that blueprint.
The first way to build back smarter is to rebuild according to current building codes. Modernized building codes often require structures to be built to withstand forceful winds, with hurricane-impact windows that can stand up to flying debris and with roofs that are secured tightly to prevent them from being pried off by the strongest gusts. Codes can also be used to require that new or renovated homes be elevated higher off the ground and to ensure that electrical systems and generators are protected by waterproof paneling and placed above basement or ground level. Impractical you say? Well, all journeys begin with a single step. And that single step could be to require all homes, before they go on the market, be brought up to current building codes. Or simply leveled and sold as improved land. It's a thought.
The second way is less controversial and is already employed in Emerald Isle. There are two practical ways to protect our coast from erosion caused by damaging winds and storm surge. The first is to follow New Jersey’s lead and erect so-called gray infrastructure — things like dams, levees, flood gates and sea walls. Gray structures may work in the short term, but as my friend Orrin Pilkey has demonstrated countless times, they can and do worsen coastal resiliency in the long term. Better to plant so-called green defenses such as wetlands, oyster reefs and mangrove forests. These green or nature-based solutions are living and breathing, giving them the flexibility to respond to extreme weather events in a way that artificial structures cannot. Restoring coastal habitats can help buffer shorelines and lessen the effects of flooding by absorbing and slowing the flow of water, while also capturing and storing planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions. Too expensive, you say? Well, the expansive climate, health-care and tax bill signed into law by President Biden earlier this year includes a $2.6 billion investment into coastal communities over five years to help them prepare and respond to climate disasters, in part by emphasizing nature-based solutions. In this context it is worth pointing out that following Hurricane Florence here in Emerald Isle, all the green defenses protected the shoreline while many of the gray structures exacerbated erosion.
The third way is to get off the grid and look to the sun for energy. Babcock’s Ranch’s solar array of 700,000 panels prevented the community from losing power while most of the nearby areas were without it for days. Solar fields have been tested and proven resilient even when staring into the eye of a hurricane. Carteret County where Emerald Isle is located has at least 5 solar sites up and running. And, the town could require that all homeowners install solar panels on the roofs, either by law or when a home goes up for sale. After all, Emerald Isle has about 220 days of sun on average every year, making it one of the sunniest places in North Carolina.
Ignore these ways and we only need to look to the past to learn what is in store for communities that do not embrace these lessons. And that is good ol fashioned relocation. Relocation has a long history along the coast of North Carolina. Residents of Diamond City near Cape Lookout on Core Banks, for example, floated their homes to nearby Harkers Island, Morehead City and Salter Path here on Bogue Banks in response to three devastating hurricanes in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Repeated disaster-and-rebuild in traditional manners may force some communities to make a painful calculation about whether to rebuild at all. To learn more about coastal community rebuilding efforts, please go to my website, www.EmeraldIsleHomesforSaleNC.com and sign up for my blog. Ready to buy or sell? Call me at 919-308-2292. Explore the video tab for my weekly uploads to my YouTube channel. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and receive free donuts at my Flip Flops Donut shop. Text your email address to 919-308-2292 and subscribe to my newsletter. My book, "Live Where You Vacation" is available on Amazon.com or at Kindle.
Comments