Earlier this month, Hurricane Ian lay waste in Florida.
But two communities remarkably withstood the weather event that reported winds in excess of 100 mph.
Babcock Ranch dreamed of being America’s first environmentally friendly, hurricane-proof, fully sustainable small town. And they achieved just that – They endured Hurricane Ian with no loss of power and minimal damage, and not a single solar panel had been dislodged from their 440-acre solar power plant. Syd Kitson, developer and visionary of the future-forward community, credits having had a ‘blank sheet of paper’ to begin with, which really allowed them to integrate sustainability and resiliency into the planning process.
Image Source: https://babcockranch.com/
Punta Gorda also reported little to no damage – After Hurricane Charley wrought havoc in 2004, the city rebuilt according to modernised and stringent building codes, allowing homes and buildings to fare better during these horrifying storms.
These are incredible examples of risk management done right, in the age of extreme weather events. Climate change promises that these events will become more common, and successfully managing and surviving them requires a proactive approach.
You can read more about reactive vs. proactive resilience here: “As systems become more interconnected and catastrophic events become more frequent, risks also become more complex and unpredictable. But it is the interconnected nature of businesses around the world that makes it critical for companies to develop cross-functional capabilities and strengthen resilience in strategic areas.”
Further ringing the bell for good risk management is a tech start-up company who realised an opportunity to help during Hurricane Ian. PayPixl repurposed their app to launch the Hurricane Ian Damage Mapper, a free crowdsourced site giving evacuees the ability to view geotagged satellite, drone, and phone images of their homes and businesses pre- and post-hurricane, enabling them to conduct damage assessments more swiftly – Something that had historically been difficult to do and left people feeling hopeless as it wasn’t high on the list of priorities when dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane.
Image Source: https://app.paypixl.io/hurricane-ian/home
Babcock Ranch, Punta Gorda, and PayPixl, are proven success stories of what foresight, resilience, innovation, and interconnectedness can achieve. They’re great case studies for others to emulate.
