Solar-powered town takes direct hit from Hurricane Ian, never loses electricity | 60 Minutes

[@Anonymous-pm7jf]

Utility companies just left the chat.

[@E-stylz-1967]

FPL is the utility company that installed the solar panels. They didn't do that for nothing.

[@Sisteryoda1440]

Having little or no damage to the solar panels is testament to this type of energy sustainability.

[@joebachmann7757]

Good thing there's no hailstorms in Florida. One bad hailstorm could completely destroy that solar farm.

[@lear60man]

If you live in the southern hemisphere...and dont mind living in a swamp 1 hour away from the nearest city.

[@E-stylz-1967]

@@lear60man one hour? You obviously don't know what your talking about.

[@mpless7062]

N0

[@patriciaburke2401]

Amazing, hope your work inspires every builder to make much needed changes.

[@Hail_Sagan]

Glad everyone is ok there and I'm a huge fan of solar, but Babcock Ranch did not take a direct hit from Ian. Babcock is well inland and did not get the full brunt of the storm. There were a lot of residents in Fort Myers, well west of i-75 who didn't lose power either.

[@FrozenSolidM5]

Thank you, someone said it. Babcock is nowhere close to where the storm came in. They were on the right side of the storm yes, but far enough out to not be majorly effected. They built is where they did for this reason.

[@erichagan7153]

Typical media propaganda piece.

[@AndogaSpock]

This is the best real estate promotion video I have seen ever.

[@sobeit1166]

No kidding and done right after a major disaster.

[@remy7448]

Smart engineering 👌🏼

[@jasm5205]

Honestly bravo. That’s a pretty amazing thing he did.

[@cosmiclouie1]

Excellent follow up on the Babcock Ranch project, it looks like the climate resilient design passed its first major test!

[@azambresonia5056]

Thank you for sharing. Interesting video.

[@thomasansley539]

I don't know why they're making it sound like it was such a hard hit for that area if you look at where Ian went and where they are on the map, they got the outskirts of the storm and are trying to say that they got a hit from a cat 4 " on the worst side of the eye wall!", not even close... it was probably cat 1 winds at best with no flooding. #fortmyersstrong.

[@nancygreen8186]

Yeah what are deceiving video

[@skeeterbodeen8326]

All I can say, Its about flippin time we've put our Intellect to work for an achievable reality...

[@tioswift3676]

Hmmmm I wonder WHY? Maybe because this areas didn’t take the hit of the storm like others did? Babcock ranch was on the outer rim of the storm. Look at this area vs direct hit areas…BIG difference. They would have had every single panel ripped off these houses if it were a direct hit, and these people would ALL be without power.

[@ms.andrea172]

Not true at all. They are not shingles! They are installed completely differently.

[@deborahriley1166]

Yes!!! Excellent foresight 🙏💟🙏💟🙏

[@av8rshane491]

Look at the palm trees, not even torn up. If they took a direct hit with 150 mph winds there wouldn’t look like that. Glad they didn’t have much damage. Come on 60 min.

[@michaelharris8354]

If you look it up, this area only got hit by 100mph max winds. They’re definitely stretching the truth a lot. As a person who grew up in hurricanes every year, the second I saw the palm trees and the guy saying it was video from the worst of it, I started chuckling. That’s hardly even a storm. I’ve been in buildings that were being separated from their foundations before.

[@av8rshane491]

It’s not that I think they did a bad job on the project just don’t try to bs the public.

[@michaelharris8354]

@@av8rshane491 that’s their thing though. The bs feeds the agenda and most guppies buy into it.

[@hnttakata713]

Electric vehicles, above sea level is the key here. Brilliant.

[@Benglator1]

Dont believe all that is told in this story. Ian worst part of the eyewall was on the northwest not the east. So this place did not take the hardest hit that it could have seen. Also there is more to the solar field then what they report as well. That power goes straight to FPL(our power plant on the river) and they in turn send power back to the community from the power plant via underground power cables within the community. FP&L leases that land from Babcock and as part of the deal, FP&L must keep the power on in that community or restore it as fast as possible. There is more that can be said about this but they are trying to hype this into something it is not. Yes I live down here and yes I have friends who live there.

[@floridachickstinyadventures]

⚠️ATTENTION!! If they were grid tied then they were without power. Anyone who had solar on their homes from FPL that were grid tied had absolutely no power while power lines were down. Now someone like myself who did her own solar and it was not grid tied ,had power!

[@thepuckstopper67]

Depends. Many systems can be grid tied but can island themselves in a microgrid in the event of an outage, usually with battery backup to supplement. That's how mine works

[@FrozenSolidM5]

Biggest issue I have with this, you lied and said you took a direct hit from Ian. Babcock is NOWHERE close to where Ian came in at all. You took a skirting from the storm and might have had winds a little stronger then a afternoon thunder storm. This story give people a false sense of security to be honest

[@sarahansley4601]

While I think the concept and execution of this solar town are great, it's completely unfair for them to pretend that they got hit with the same level of storm as Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Pine Island, Fort Myers or Cape Coral. As someone who survived through the actual 150-170 mph wind gusts here in Cape Coral, that video footage of the storm that they sustained was nothing compared to the hit that this area took. Had they actually taken that sort of a hit that they're claiming they did, I promise you that place would have been wrecked just like everywhere else. As I said, I think the concept is great. Good for them! However, anyone who has to lie in order to lift themselves up above the rest doesn't really deserve our admiration.

[@TOSStarTrek]

Very much support green energy but right once you add the whole cost of the system they are not cheap. They will get cheaper in time numbers back it up.

[@PaulBroekemeier]

The problem is this dude just made a standard sprawling inefficient suburb and tacked on solar panels and patted himself on the back.

[@AllenGraetz]

"and the only damage were a few downed trees and few shingle off the rooves" He's right that being the NE quad is the word spot to be. But the question is how big was the hurricane, both in area and category. Ian came ashore as a Cat 4. But being 20 miles inland, it was likely a small cat 3 or 2 by the time it passed. The worst thing they got was a foot or two of rain in 2 days. Kudos to them for good construction. Kudos for them for good drainage. But let's not forget at the end of the day we have the classic Florida developer trying to sell literal swampland.

[@lizregan1949]

Wow and to think we have had this technology for years.

[@donovandelaney3171]

He needs to have the sidewalks and roads be made from waste plastic and add some Sinclair C5 bikes.

[@tjhook911]

The island didn’t lose power due to the lines being buried, much like Japan. It had little to do with the fact that the electricity being transmitted was from solar. Let’s be transparent here….

[@growtopiajaw]

good vid

[@streetbaby9217]

We had a great president that wanted us to go solar power 🔋 🤔.

[@utilid4lifefigureitout602]

Carter or Gore?

[@hbgriss]

Bet desantis hates this place

[@DarthSailorMoo]

They don't call DeSatan the devil for nothing.

[@sdc1407]

cost?

[@aaronstephens9513]

it has nothing to do with being solar.. it has to do with having a brand new modern infastructure....

[@larroyo1973]

It's pretty clear they didnt get a direct hit. Even the home video taken during the height of the Storm shows nothing more than a mild tropical storm situation. It's almost like he's ever been through true Category 3 and above hurricane

[@rui569]

And is the less expensive electricity. Do we need more arguments to go solar?

[@joeldonnahoo4902]

Sure doesn't look like the parts of Florida that actually got hit

[@CAPRICORNNEA]

It’s an hour from the sea and Punt Gorda didn’t get hit that bad.

[@Satans_lil_helper]

This is why it's important to move away from fossil fuel. Well done!

[@utilid4lifefigureitout602]

One of a long list of reasons. National Security being a major one. Future Generations having a habitable planet being arguably the most important. No matter how inventive the imaginations of billionaires and the scientists and engineers they employ are/get, this is still the only habitable planet known to humanity.

[@curiousworld7912]

Even the Dept. of Defense has long realized that moving away from fossil fuels is not only better for the environment in the face of climate change; it's a matter of national security. Energy independence is one sure way of avoiding OPEC's whims, or wars, such as what's happening in Ukraine, from disrupting energy needs. Not to mention; our own wars for 'oil'. Remember when we were told the Iraq War would all but pay for itself, because of their oil? Yeah, that worked out well...

[@Satans_lil_helper]

@@curiousworld7912 We'll be fighting wars over water in the very near future. We have an entire populace willing to ignore it, hoping it will magically go away.

[@nickjacobs8507]

The mining of rare earth minerals for solar panels takes massive amounts of fossil fuels. You're not very bright.

[@PaulBroekemeier]

This isn't though. Look at how the neighborhood is designed: it's extremely car-centric and would be very difficult to walk from one street to another. He's basically just greenwashing.

[@tww6488]

The river when the other way

[@PaulBroekemeier]

I'm sorry, but this isn't "a small sustainable town", it's a masterplan community with solar panels; this guy is just a real estate development grifter. Savannah is closer to what actual sustainable urban planning looks like.

[@markbaxter4527]

Pretty sweet

[@Longenecker1776]

They didn’t take a direct hit. 15 yard penalty on 60 minutes for stretching and bending the truth.

[@marilynjackson5752]

How much did these houses cost? Would the average home owner be able to afford it?

[@CSAFMedia]

I was looking at prices of homes at Babcock Ranch before Milton hit and starting price was low $300K.

[@carmensantana1374]

Florida power is the stuff........👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@Llr56739]

Weird how EVERYONE I know that has Solar lost panels resulting in holes in their roof.

[@bigvaxmeanie925]

Weird how everyone in orlando I know didn't get holes in their roof and solar panels kept them from losing power.

[@Llr56739]

@@bigvaxmeanie925 that's a few hours north of us so they didn't have the same impact from the storm.

[@bigvaxmeanie925]

@@Llr56739 half the city lost power Unless you had solar panels

[@unvladsale2015]

Wow!

[@alexmaccity]

Subjective puff piece.

[@HotRod16]

Now we can comment?

[@susanhunter9196]

Bet you gotta have a whole lot of money to live here. Which means, it would be outta reach for the majority of people. Underground utilities need to become the norm everywhere. That might alleviate at least some of the suffering during and, after a natural disaster.

[@RiotNrrrdUTube]

@Susan Hunter I just looked on Zillow and there are houses for sale in Babcock Ranch as low as $400,000. They're cookie-cutter and soulless, but they exist.

[@daveboon5992]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😎😎😎

[@timothydaly4136]

Lies solor power my bill is $250

[@MG-jj3pn]

Wow

[@1420625]

But the people though…

[@WhiteGangster400]

Dude sounds like he sniffs his own farts and then brags about it.

[@hnttakata713]

An eco-conscious Florida? Hmmmmm

[@hermanhale9258]

All those solar panels for five thousand people. Wants to build to fifty thousand people. Nah. Dumb idea.

[@PaulBroekemeier]

It wouldn't be dumb if America still designed cities like Savannah for instance. Covering the entire state of Florida in masterplan communities and tacking solar panels on top does absolutely nothing to help the climate and environment.

[@hermanhale9258]

@@PaulBroekemeier What is special about Savannah?

[@PaulBroekemeier]

@@hermanhale9258 Savannah is designed in a way that favors the thing cities are actually made for: people. It has cozy streets with many local businesses and shops.

[@hermanhale9258]

@@PaulBroekemeier OK, thanks. Some people say we should do like they do in Europe - buses and trains but no cars, if possible.

[@M.Mae.M]

Makes you wonder why other developers don't follow a similar model, oh yeah, American greed!

[@tww6488]

Price and biden making it worse

[@mtlart]

This has got to boil Desantis' @$$. Keep up the good work, Syd!

[@lindakluth5611]

So it can be done yet they built wrong and all those people died. Or lost everything. All for greed.

[@Ashanti71]

HAARP!!

[@mohamedel3rby253]

God loves you and takes care of you. The biggest loss that a person loses in this life is to live and die while he does not know God or His Messenger, Muhammad, the last of the prophets and the Islamic religion, the last of the heavenly religions, from intelligence. Before you believe in something or not, study it and try to understand it well, and then you have the choice. By reading the Noble Qur’an with translation and trying to understand it before time runs out