It was not until the Great Flood of 1993 that the levees protecting Valmeyer and its environs were damaged by floodwater causing a large gap to form , flooding the town . Though the village was largely destroyed , the flooding of the American Bottom floodplain relieved pressure upstream from Valmeyer , and very likely saved downtown St. Louis from a major flood event . This was an intentional design element in the original levee plan , to use the sparsely populated agricultural areas surrounding Valmeyer to relieve threat against the more valuable real estate in the levee districts north of Valmeyer , including St. Louis . Valmeyer 's story was well documented in both the national and international media , most notably on public television 's '' Nova '' program , as a front-page article in the '' New York Times '' , and in a feature article in '' Smithsonian '' in June 1996
Great Flood of 1993
Great Flood of 1993
Valmeyer, Illinois