Some residents of a sustainable hurricane-proof community in Florida were glad that their homes survived major Hurricanes Helene and Milton — and kept the lights on the whole time. It was a tense moment, but their investments may have paid off.
As CNN reported, Hunters Point, a waterfront neighborhood in Cortez, Florida, is touted as the world's first residential development to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design net-zero credentials.
It showed that the homes' rooftop solar panels generate more electricity than residents use, leaving plenty to be stored in backup batteries in an outage.
The solar scheme was put to the ultimate test during Hurricane Milton, and it looks like it passed with flying colors. Even though the storm left 2.5 million customers in the dark across Florida, the power in Hunters Point stayed on.
"Everybody around us was completely dark at like five in the morning, and you see the lights on in our houses," Marshall Gobuty, the president of Pearl Homes — the developer that built Hunters Point — told CNN. "So, it really was a test of why we did this."
The homes have much more going for them than just the cutting-edge solar system. The homes are built to withstand Category 5 hurricanes, the most catastrophic type of tropical cyclone.
While the homes are in a flood zone, the builders elevated them 7 feet above flood levels to meet building codes. Even if floodwaters got into the homes, the ground floor — the garage — is equipped with flood vents to drain excess water, as CNN explained.
The second floor houses the living spaces and sits 16 feet above sea level, keeping residents dry even in a worst-case scenario storm surge.
The nest question is, how much does it cost? This will take the icing off the cake because it is not affordable to many residents of the country. Homes in Hunters Point start at US$ 1.45 million for a 1,658 sq ft, 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom home. Part of the high cost is because of its location, near the beach.