Babcock Ranch, a hurricane-proof town in Florida
This image acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 19 November shows the town of Babcock Ranch, in Florida.
It is one of the first communities to be built to resist extreme weather events. Its area is about five times that of Manhattan. It has numerous lakes which act as retention ponds to protect homes from flooding. Roads are designed to absorb excess rainfall, and the community hall is reinforced as a storm shelter. The entire area is powered by a large solar panel farm. It emerged almost unscathed from Hurricane Ian in 2022 thanks to its storm-resistant infrastructure.
Open data from Copernicus Sentinel satellites can be used to monitor key parameters useful for designing and implementing sustainable urban policies in cities around the world.
