Short Wave – “Nature Quest: Rebuild Or Relocate Post-Disaster?”

Date: October 28, 2025
Hosts: Emily Kwong & Hannah Chin

Episode Overview

In this episode, Emily Kwong and producer Hannah Chin explore the concept of "managed retreat"—the planned and coordinated relocation of communities away from areas that are increasingly uninhabitable due to natural disasters exacerbated by climate change. Prompted by a listener question from Christchurch, New Zealand, the hosts investigate case studies from New Zealand, Alaska, Illinois, and New York. The episode tackles the tough question: Is managed retreat a reasonable and effective disaster response strategy, and what challenges do communities face when deciding whether to rebuild or relocate?

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Question: Christchurch’s “Red Zones”

• Timestamps: 00:25–01:33
  • Background: After earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, much of the land was declared unfit for housing. The government offered buyouts, and over 95% of affected residents accepted. The formerly populated “red zones” now host community gardens and walking paths.
  • Prompt: Listener Molly Magid asks, “Is managed retreat a reasonable strategy for dealing with climate change disasters elsewhere?”

2. What Is Managed Retreat?

• Timestamps: 01:41–02:57
  • Definition: “Managed retreat is the purposeful and coordinated movement of people and assets out of harm’s way. And it’s a part of the larger disaster risk reduction toolbox." — Emily Kwong [01:41]
  • Necessity: If preventative steps aren’t taken, disasters can devastate entire communities, as in recent Alaskan flooding following Typhoon Ha Long.
  • Human Impact: Displacement is not theoretical—over 2,000 Alaskans lost homes recently.

3. Approaches to Managed Retreat

• Timestamps: 05:32–07:11
  • Spectrum of Strategies:
    • Top-Down: Government-initiated and enforced, e.g. New Zealand’s red zones.
    • Community-Led: Driven by local residents, who organize and seek support, e.g. Valmier, Illinois.
  • Quote: “People in the local community, they are the experts of the lived experiences. They're the ones dealing firsthand with these climate stressors.” — Elena Sutley, University of Kansas [06:17]

4. Case Study: Valmier, Illinois (1993)

• Timestamps: 07:14–08:26
  • Background: After the 1993 Midwest floods destroyed most of the town, residents collectively decided to relocate. With FEMA and state support, 300+ homes and 25 businesses moved to higher ground in under four years.
  • Precedent: Set the standard for U.S. buyout programs.

5. The U.S. Buyout Landscape

• Timestamps: 08:26–09:57

  • Data: Over 40,000 U.S. households have sold their homes to the government through buyout programs (Miyuki Hino, UNC Chapel Hill).

  • Process:

    • Owners are paid the "pre-flood" value
    • Homes are demolished, land is restored to open space, and restricted from future build

  • Unintended Outcomes: Not all neighbors move; some rebuild; some properties are redeveloped, leading to “patchwork” communities.

  • Notable Quote:

    • “This is not managed retreat. This is chaotic.” — Hurricane Sandy survivor to Miyuki Hino [09:57]
    • Highlights the lack of coordination—some houses demolished, others renovated, leading to fractured neighborhoods.

6. Infrastructure & Equity Challenges

• Timestamps: 10:35–11:23

  • Consequence: Where some leave and others stay, maintaining roads, utilities, and services for shrinking, dispersed populations becomes logistically and financially challenging.

  • Notable Quote:

    • “So can you maintain a road if now there's actually only one household that lives on it, and there used to be 20?... Or how do you maintain water and wastewater and trash pickup when now your community is split across multiple different geographies?” — Miyuki Hino [10:55]

7. Alaska: Community Survival Hinges on Funding

• Timestamps: 11:41–13:44

  • Spotlight: Nunnapitchuk, Alaska—though the community has land to relocate to, lacks the estimated $277 million needed for the move.

  • Key Factors: Ownership of the new site, community consensus, and the challenge of securing government resources.

  • Contrast: Other villages like Quigillingoc lack both funding and suitable land, leading to even greater vulnerability.

  • Notable Quote:

    • “We are very fortunate to have no red tape towards the site we had wanted to relocate to.” — Morris Alexie, Nunnapitchuk resident [13:06]

8. The Role of Government Partnership

• Timestamps: 11:23–14:39

  • Insight: Successful managed retreat depends on genuine partnership and open exchange between governments and local communities.

  • Federal-State Dynamics: Uncertainty as disaster recovery funding potentially shifts from federal to state responsibility—posing new challenges for localities with limited resources.

  • Societal “Resilience”:

    • Quote:
      • “The way that we should be thinking about resilience is not so much in the hazards that you’re going to face, but much more in the social system and the community and the government effectiveness of what happens to people on the ground.” — Miyuki Hino [14:39]

9. Final Takeaways

• Timestamps: 15:06–15:17
  • Bottom Line: Managed retreat can be a solution, but its success is less about geography and more about community strength and support systems.
  • Quote:
    • “It totally can be, but it's not because of where you live. It's because of who you live among and what systems are in place to protect you in the event of a disaster.” — Emily Kwong [15:06]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On collective loss:

  • “Kipnock is our hometown and we've been living there all our life. Everything is lost now. All the memories and all the horrors are gone.”
    — Morris Alexie [02:28]

• On community resilience:

  • “As much as the community wants this, they're missing that financial support from the federal government, which all of those other places that we talked about earlier… had in one way or another.”
    — Hannah Chin [13:44]

Useful Timestamps

• Christchurch, NZ managed retreat origins: 00:25–01:33
• Recent Alaska displacement: 01:41–02:42
• Types of managed retreat: 05:32–07:11
• Valmier, Illinois case study: 07:14–08:26
• Hurricane Sandy buyouts: 09:00–09:57
• Nunnapitchuk, Alaska relocation challenge: 11:41–13:44
• Definition of climate resilience: 14:39

Episode Tone & Style

Friendly, inquisitive, and empathetic, Emily and Hannah deftly mix serious reporting with occasional humor and heartfelt moments from affected community members. The hosts give space to expert voices and first-hand accounts while guiding the listener through complex policy and practical considerations surrounding post-disaster recovery.

Summary

This episode of Short Wave delves into the growing, often complicated phenomenon of managed retreat—what it means for communities tasked with rebuilding or relocating after disasters. With illustrated examples from both the U.S. and abroad, the hosts conclude that while managed retreat is both viable and sometimes necessary, its success is not determined by location alone, but by the strength of community bonds, open government partnership, and access to resources. The episode leaves listeners with a powerful reframing: real resilience lies in a community’s capacity to respond and support each other in the face of climate-driven adversity.