I avoid NPR on stories with political content, they are too Maoist for my taste. On the other hand, I liked this story about a housing development near Ft. Myers which survived Hurricane Ian with barely a scratch. This outcome was by design, no accident. The developer did a lot of things right.
For starters, they are inland so they avoided the storm surge. Plus they built understanding the worst that FL weather can deliver and prepared for it - underground electric lines, drainage ponds, etc. When FL begins to rebuild, they could do worse than follow this model to the extent possible.
Based on preparedness, many of the development’s residents did not evacuate, nor need to. That has to be worth a fair amount in additional upfront cost.
Seems reasonable that insurance companies are looking at this story and, going forward, will quote rates based on the extent to which properties follow the Babcock Ranch model. Hat tip to the nearly defunct Boy Scouts for loan of their motto.
