The relatively well-off bedroom community of Valmeyer, Illinois, could afford to relocate – but moving isn’t as easy for less affluent towns
When Valmeyer, Illinois, was hit by the great flood of 1993 and faced obliteration, residents made an unexpected choice: the town decided to rebuild from the ground up – this time, about two miles east and 400ft higher up.
Valmeyer was a small commuter town made up of mostly middle-class families who worked in nearby St Louis, Missouri. Almost overnight, the community became a model of what it means to become climate resilient.