How Valmeyer in the USA relocated after being destroyed by flood

Dennis is the former mayor of the midwestern US town of Valmeyer, and was talking to Lismore City News about the need to act quickly following a flood.

His is a voice of experience - 20 years ago, Dennis was one of the driving forces behind the relocation of Valmeyer to higher, flood-free ground. His advice to Lismore is twofold - "act quickly, and involve the community".

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A state-of-the-art levee system was not enough to stop the might of the Mississippi River during the Great Flood of 1993, and homes and businesses were left inundated for weeks, and in some cases, months.

With more than 300 communities impacted by flooding along the river, Dennis said it became evident the town needed to lead its own recovery effort.

A discussion was held with the entire community soon after the disaster struck to find out whether people wanted to stay, go, or move.

Once the consensus was reached to move the town, he said they involved the the community in the process by inviting them to be on committees overseeing every element of the town's relocation - one committee looked after schools, there was one for churches, one for businesses, and so on.

Getting people involved in the decision making was "the smartest decision we ever made", Dennis said. "I think the absolute majority of our success is due to citizen involvement. They brought raw ideas to the table, it was a great think tank."

In an era when the internet and social media were not in common use, it was also important to ensure the community were kept informed about what was going on, so the sent out a weekly newsletter.

A new location for the town was identified quickly, but overcoming funding, environmental and cultural issues meant it took three years before the town was relocated.

Funding from the government was slow in coming, but eventually, everyone in the town was offered a buyback, or money to raise their homes.

As well as a school, services, and churches, 325 homes and 25 businesses retreated from the floodplain.

Some decided against the move, but largely, Old Valmeyer is now a green expanse of farming land and sport fields.

The local government owns the land and is responsible for its maintenance, but Dennis said leasing it out offers the town a source of additional income.

He says the flood hit businesses hard, and many did not survive the years following the flood. Twenty years later, however, the population and the number of businesses has grown.

While Valmeyer is much smaller than Lismore, the issues the towns face are similar, and much can be learned from looking at how people have addressed those issues in the past.

Dennis says even now, news of a similar disaster elsewhere in the world brings back many emotions.

"They usually end up reliving what went on," Dennis says, but adds they are happy knowing they're safe and out of the flood zone.