Special Series
Flood. Retreat. Repeat.

As seas rise and storms become more intense, some 40 million Americans living in floodplains are facing greater risk of disaster. Local, state, and federal officials are increasingly looking at managed retreat, or buyouts, as a way to get people out of harm’s way. In this series, Grist profiles three communities at various stages of the buyout process, examining what happens when you ask – or sometimes force – people to leave their homes. What gets lost and who gets left behind?
In This Series
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Left Behind
What life is like for the last residents of Staten Island's Oakwood Beach.
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Higher Ground
America’s oldest Black town is trapped between rebuilding and retreating.
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Torn Apart
In Houston, a generations-deep community is being dismantled by mandatory buyouts.