I've Done That Once — Dennis Knobloch on the Cost of Saving a Town

March 10, 2026

What follows is not a transcript. Dennis Knobloch never sat for this interview. But across three decades of documented conversations with CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, NPR, St. Louis Public Radio, Belt Magazine, the U.S. Congress, and visitors from as far as Japan and Australia, he has answered these questions. Sometimes in fragments, sometimes at length, always circling back to the same handful of moments. We've assembled his words here, drawn from the public record, because the interior experience of leading a community through something impossible deserves to be heard as a single conversation, even if it was spoken across many rooms and many years.¹

We met him, or rather his words met us, in the one-room schoolhouse that serves as New Valmeyer's historical museum. It was moved by crane and truck from the floodplain to the bluffs after the relocation. Inside: hats that read "Valmeyer: A New Beginning," commemorative stamps, grainy Polaroids of the village underwater. The schoolhouse made the journey. So did its contents. So did the man who curated them.

Before the flood, you'd just been reelected mayor. What was Valmeyer like?

Dennis: My wife said it best. "It's not a big deal. Nothing ever happens in Valmeyer." And she was right. I didn't think that we would ever flood. Most of the people who lived in Valmeyer knew the river was there, but they were detached from it. It's not like you saw it every day or were involved with it every day. We were part of the river network but more detached.² And we'd been told the levee system built around here was one of the best in the Midwest. Sixty years it held.

Then the night of August 1st, 1993.

Dennis: It was 1:30 in the morning. The last levee was gone. The utility chief radioed me and said, "It's your call, mayor."

Now, here's a thing people don't know. I'd been tussling with a representative from Illinois Power for days before that. He was supposed to be the one to cut the electricity. We went back and forth, and eventually we agreed the mayor would make that decision. So I'd already lived through this moment in my head. I'd rehearsed it.³

It didn't help.

“

I said, "Go ahead and turn out the lights." And I stood on that cemetery hill and watched as he turned out the lights in town. And little did I know that it would be the last time the lights would shine on Valmeyer as it had been.⁴

(He paused here, across multiple tellings, across multiple years.)

It was probably the toughest thing I've ever done in my life.

You surveyed the damage by helicopter afterward.

Dennis: It was like flying over an ocean. Water from the Illinois bluff to the Missouri bluff, which is four miles apart here. It is hard to comprehend.⁵

But the town almost didn't move.

Dennis: That's right. After the first flood, we were going to repair and rebuild. Then a second surge came through in September. It was kind of like a second punch in the stomach to these people.⁶ The first flood, you could still imagine going back to normal. The second one took that away.

When someone first suggested relocation, what did you think?

Dennis: I thought it was a crazy idea.⁷

And yet you pitched it to the town.

Dennis: We took the idea to the residents. We said, we have no idea how to do this, and no idea if it's going to work. We're not even sure yet what's involved. But if we try it, will you be willing to be a part of it?⁸

Nearly seventy percent said yes. Many had grown up in Valmeyer, families there for two, three generations. They didn't want to see the town go away. They said, "Just make sure we keep dry feet. We want to be higher and drier than we were before."⁹

That was the mandate. Not a vision statement. Dry feet.

Not everyone agreed. There was a competing newsletter, the "River Rat Rumormill Gazette."

Dennis: (a beat) There were people who felt strongly that moving was giving in. The Gazette said the real story should be about the ones who were staying, fighting the system, saving their homes and their lifestyle, "not giving in to the easy way out."¹⁰

I understood that. I did. But I was also putting out "The Original Voice" every week, trying to keep people connected while they were scattered across the county in FEMA trailers and relatives' basements. You're trying to hold a community together that doesn't physically exist anymore. That's holding smoke.

You quit your job to do this.

Dennis: I was an investment and insurance broker. My wife, she's a microbiologist, she supported the family while I worked full-time through all the permits, all the planning, all the problems of creating a town from nothing.¹¹ Twenty-two agencies. I went to Washington within two months with plans the townsfolk had drawn up and asked for money. The politicians were impressed, I think, that we'd already done the work.

You also told Congress that FEMA was too slow.

Dennis: I told them: according to historical data, a relocation effort like this was predicted to take five to ten years. By that time, our residents would be dispersed like dandelion seeds in the wind.¹² That was the real danger. Not the water. The waiting.

Thirty-plus years later. What was lost?

Dennis: (long pause) The business community was the hardest hit. We lost a lot of our businesses and haven't been able to get them built back up again. And you don't have the mix of older homes and newer homes, the physical texture of a place that grew over time. When we decided to move, we knew we were not going to recreate Mayberry on the hill. All you can do is hope that the heart of the community is there.¹³

Standing on the driveway of my old place, I can remember teaching the kids to ride their bikes. Lots of good family memories.¹⁴ My wife won't visit old town unless I make her get in the car. On some level, I would still prefer to be in my old home in the bottoms, if I could be.

Every July Fourth, the town goes back down to the floodplain to celebrate.

Dennis: We've always chosen to keep this event as it was, as kind of a tribute to what we had here before.¹⁵

Years after the relocation, a local theater group staged a musical called The Flood. They asked you to play the mayor. You said no.

Dennis: I sang in the choir. But they wanted me to play the Meyersville mayor, the character based on me.

“

I said, "No. I've done that once. I, for sure, don't want to do that again."¹⁶

You could sing in the chorus but not stand alone at the front.

Dennis: (silence)

That's about right.

You still watch the river.

Dennis: The river levels right now are higher than they should be at this time. It's warmer in the northern part of the Mississippi system than it normally is. They're expecting this could be another year of flooding.¹⁷

I share what I know with media, researchers, politicians, anyone, because I believe our experience can help other communities navigate the aftermath of disasters.¹⁸ People come from Japan, Australia. I tell them what I tell everyone: I think we achieved the success we did because the people rolled up their sleeves from day one. They had been involved in the flood fight. When we asked them to come sit at the table and help us do the planning, they were involved.¹⁹

But nothing about it came easy. Two decades on, the story can have a tidy feel. It wasn't tidy. It was commitment, dedication, perseverance, and blind faith that the move would happen.²⁰

Dennis Knobloch continues to serve part-time as Valmeyer's village administrator. He meets visitors in the one-room schoolhouse museum. His memoir, 49.58 and Ankle Deep on First Base, takes its title from the record river crest. The schoolhouse that houses the museum survived generations of use in Old Valmeyer before being moved to the bluffs. Knobloch curates it with the care of someone who knows exactly what didn't make the trip.

All Knobloch quotes are drawn from documented interviews with CNN (2019), St. Louis Public Radio (2013, 2018), Belt Magazine (2021), Christian Science Monitor (2021), Seattle Times (1995), UC Davis (2019), NPR (2005), and PBS NewsHour (2019). No original interview was conducted. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/us/valmeyer-flooding-climate-crisis-midwest/index.html ↩
CNN, "A flood forced this town to move," July 17, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/us/valmeyer-flooding-climate-crisis-midwest/index.html ↩
St. Louis Public Radio, "Residents remember the disaster in song," 2018. https://apps.stlpublicradio.org/great-flood-25/valmeyer.html ↩
Ibid. ↩
St. Louis Beacon/STLPR, "After Great Flood of '93, Valmeyer retreated to the bluffs," July 30, 2013. https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2013-07-30/after-great-flood-of-93-valmeyer-ill-retreated-to-the-bluffs-and-found-its-future ↩
CNN, 2019. ↩
UC Davis, "Small Towns, Big Flood Waters," May 15, 2019. https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/small-towns-big-flood-waters ↩
Belt Magazine, "A City Upon a Hill," May 27, 2021. https://beltmag.com/valmeyer-illinois-city-hill-mississippi-flood/ ↩
Ibid. ↩
Excerpt from the "River Rat Rumormill Gazette," December 23, 1993, as quoted in Belt Magazine, 2021. ↩
Christian Science Monitor, "How a river town relocated, with climate lessons for today," July 15, 2021. https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2021/0715/How-a-river-town-relocated-with-climate-lessons-for-today ↩
STLPR, "Valmeyer's relocation moved quickly as people took matters into their own hands," August 1, 2013. https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2013-08-01/valmeyers-relocation-moved-quickly-as-people-took-matters-into-their-own-hands ↩
Belt Magazine, 2021; CNN, 2019. ↩
CNN, 2019. ↩
Belt Magazine, 2021. ↩
St. Louis Public Radio, 2018. ↩
CNN, 2019. ↩
PBS NewsHour, "The radical approach these communities have taken to flood mitigation," May 29, 2019. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-radical-approach-these-communities-have-taken-to-flood-mitigation ↩
STLPR, August 1, 2013. ↩
Ibid. ↩

Before the flood, you'd just been reelected mayor. What was Valmeyer like?

Then the night of August 1st, 1993.

Dennis: It was 1:30 in the morning. The last levee was gone. The utility chief radioed me and said, "It's your call, mayor."

It didn't help.

“

(He paused here, across multiple tellings, across multiple years.)

It was probably the toughest thing I've ever done in my life.

You surveyed the damage by helicopter afterward.

Dennis: It was like flying over an ocean. Water from the Illinois bluff to the Missouri bluff, which is four miles apart here. It is hard to comprehend.⁵

But the town almost didn't move.

When someone first suggested relocation, what did you think?

Dennis: I thought it was a crazy idea.⁷

And yet you pitched it to the town.

That was the mandate. Not a vision statement. Dry feet.

Not everyone agreed. There was a competing newsletter, the "River Rat Rumormill Gazette."

You quit your job to do this.

You also told Congress that FEMA was too slow.

Thirty-plus years later. What was lost?

Every July Fourth, the town goes back down to the floodplain to celebrate.

Dennis: We've always chosen to keep this event as it was, as kind of a tribute to what we had here before.¹⁵

Years after the relocation, a local theater group staged a musical called The Flood. They asked you to play the mayor. You said no.

Dennis: I sang in the choir. But they wanted me to play the Meyersville mayor, the character based on me.

“

I said, "No. I've done that once. I, for sure, don't want to do that again."¹⁶

You could sing in the chorus but not stand alone at the front.

Dennis: (silence)

That's about right.

You still watch the river.

But nothing about it came easy. Two decades on, the story can have a tidy feel. It wasn't tidy. It was commitment, dedication, perseverance, and blind faith that the move would happen.²⁰

All Knobloch quotes are drawn from documented interviews with CNN (2019), St. Louis Public Radio (2013, 2018), Belt Magazine (2021), Christian Science Monitor (2021), Seattle Times (1995), UC Davis (2019), NPR (2005), and PBS NewsHour (2019). No original interview was conducted. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/us/valmeyer-flooding-climate-crisis-midwest/index.html ↩
CNN, "A flood forced this town to move," July 17, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/us/valmeyer-flooding-climate-crisis-midwest/index.html ↩
St. Louis Public Radio, "Residents remember the disaster in song," 2018. https://apps.stlpublicradio.org/great-flood-25/valmeyer.html ↩
Ibid. ↩
St. Louis Beacon/STLPR, "After Great Flood of '93, Valmeyer retreated to the bluffs," July 30, 2013. https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2013-07-30/after-great-flood-of-93-valmeyer-ill-retreated-to-the-bluffs-and-found-its-future ↩
CNN, 2019. ↩
UC Davis, "Small Towns, Big Flood Waters," May 15, 2019. https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/small-towns-big-flood-waters ↩
Belt Magazine, "A City Upon a Hill," May 27, 2021. https://beltmag.com/valmeyer-illinois-city-hill-mississippi-flood/ ↩
Ibid. ↩
Excerpt from the "River Rat Rumormill Gazette," December 23, 1993, as quoted in Belt Magazine, 2021. ↩
Christian Science Monitor, "How a river town relocated, with climate lessons for today," July 15, 2021. https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2021/0715/How-a-river-town-relocated-with-climate-lessons-for-today ↩
STLPR, "Valmeyer's relocation moved quickly as people took matters into their own hands," August 1, 2013. https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2013-08-01/valmeyers-relocation-moved-quickly-as-people-took-matters-into-their-own-hands ↩
Belt Magazine, 2021; CNN, 2019. ↩
CNN, 2019. ↩
Belt Magazine, 2021. ↩
St. Louis Public Radio, 2018. ↩
CNN, 2019. ↩
PBS NewsHour, "The radical approach these communities have taken to flood mitigation," May 29, 2019. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-radical-approach-these-communities-have-taken-to-flood-mitigation ↩
STLPR, August 1, 2013. ↩
Ibid. ↩

I've Done That Once — Dennis Knobloch on the Cost of Saving a Town

Before the flood, you'd just been reelected mayor. What was Valmeyer like?

Then the night of August 1st, 1993.

You surveyed the damage by helicopter afterward.

But the town almost didn't move.

When someone first suggested relocation, what did you think?

And yet you pitched it to the town.

Not everyone agreed. There was a competing newsletter, the "River Rat Rumormill Gazette."

You quit your job to do this.

You also told Congress that FEMA was too slow.

Thirty-plus years later. What was lost?

Every July Fourth, the town goes back down to the floodplain to celebrate.

Years after the relocation, a local theater group staged a musical called The Flood. They asked you to play the mayor. You said no.

You could sing in the chorus but not stand alone at the front.

You still watch the river.

Footnotes

Before the flood, you'd just been reelected mayor. What was Valmeyer like?

Then the night of August 1st, 1993.

You surveyed the damage by helicopter afterward.

But the town almost didn't move.

When someone first suggested relocation, what did you think?

And yet you pitched it to the town.

Not everyone agreed. There was a competing newsletter, the "River Rat Rumormill Gazette."

You quit your job to do this.

You also told Congress that FEMA was too slow.

Thirty-plus years later. What was lost?

Every July Fourth, the town goes back down to the floodplain to celebrate.

Years after the relocation, a local theater group staged a musical called The Flood. They asked you to play the mayor. You said no.

You could sing in the chorus but not stand alone at the front.

You still watch the river.

Footnotes