The story of Valmeyer’s devastating 1993 flood and subsequent relocation to higher ground is being featured as part of a new exhibit currently on display in Washington, D.C.

The exhibit, “Designing for Disaster,” opened May 11 at the National Building Museum and will remain on display until Aug. 2, 2015.

Included in the display are examples of the destruction caused by natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and wildfires) and options available to communities and homeowners to recover from such events. Designing and preparing for disasters is also a focus of this exhibition.

“We were contacted shortly after the first of the year as the curators at the museum were gathering information for the display,” said Dennis Knobloch, former Valmeyer mayor and current Monroe County Clerk. “They were contacting communities that had been involved in various natural disasters to see how related information could help with their exhibit.”

Along with details of Valmeyer’s move following the flood are fragments of the mural that was painted on a wall of the school li

brary in the spring of 1993. Students and community members gathered in May of that year to dedicate the beautiful rendition of Valmeyer’s history they had all helped to create.

Less than three months later, that mural, along with much of the 900-resident community, succumbed to Mississippi River flood waters.

“By 1995, the first residents had moved,” a panel board on display inside the museum reads. “The new site, a nearby bluff top, is 300 feet higher and free from any history of flooding. With the help of $35 million in federal and state money for town infrastructure and schools, the town began a three-year rebuilding process. Today, Valmeyer is home to more than 1,200 residents.”

Other items on display as part of this exhibit include a door marked after Hurricane Katrina, singed opera glasses from the Waldo Canyon wildfire, and stone fragments from the earthquake-damaged National Cathedral, along with images of destruction created by hurricanes Sandy and Andrew.

For more information on the exhibit or the facility, visit www.nbm.org.