While more than 3 million people in Florida lost power in the wake of Hurricane Milton, residents living in a recently built neighborhood in the small town of Cortez saw their houses switch to batteries that powered lights, refrigerators and other essentials, Fast Company reports.  The same thing happened two weeks ago, when flooding from Hurricane Helene took out the grid. Though the development, called Hunters Point, is only two years old, it’s already been through—and survived—four major hurricanes. Its homes were specifically designed to survive hurricanes, with an elevation high enough to avoid severe flooding, and construction choices that make them as sturdy as possible in high winds. And when the power goes out, each home turns to its own solar panels and battery system. In an outage, the batteries disconnect from the grid and form a “nanogrid” at the house. “That all happens in about a third of a second,” says Geoff Ferrell, vice president at Sonnen, the company that makes the battery systems used at Hunters Point. “From the customer’s experience, they might see the lights flicker. Generally speaking, you don’t have to go reset the clock on your oven. It’s that fast.” Read the full story.