This is just a short article from Thomas Reuters foundation, titled
Communities that uprooted and relocated after disasters
The examples are short and recent, but none are in the U.S. I wish someone would do an in-depth study of this topic. I know there are several examples of U.S. communities that have relocated in their entirety — e.g, Valdez AK and Soldier’s Grove, WI. But I do not know of any significant analyses and studies.
Update: Please see the Comment section for some very useful examples and citations provided by readers.
Recovery Diva 
Claire, Thanks for this! I couldn’t agree with you more. I am planning to focus on this issue, once I finish the current book on recovery management. I have been informally collecting post-disaster relocation cases, and visiting them where I can, including the Nagapattinam case she mentions. Needless to say, all of these (Nagapattinam, Valmeyer, etc.) are much more complicated and nuanced than these simple accounts suggest. My favorite case right now is the ongoing relocation of villages on the slopes of Merapi volcano in Java. And, of course, the classic of all such studies is Tony Oliver-Smith’s dissertation research back in 1970 on the rebirth of Yungay after it was obliterated by a lahar.
A related issue, which I also have been trying to explore, is that of property rights on unstable or ephemeral ground. Takes me back to my dissertation on landslide policy. The question is: are there good cases of property rights systems that are adapted to the unstable reality of the earth’s surface? I am especially interested in how one can have property rights on barrier islands. -Rob
Robert B. Olshansky, Professor, Department Head Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 611 Taft Drive, Champaign IL 61820 217.333.8703, robo@illinois.edu
From: Recovery Diva <comment-reply@wordpress.com> Reply-To: Recovery Diva <comment+efootd5z1pfmvcmjh5dafqs7@comment.wordpress.com> Date: Monday, July 14, 2014 at 8:25 AM To: Robert Olshansky <robo@illinois.edu> Subject: [New post] Some Communites that Relocated After Disasters
recoverydiva posted: “This is just a short article from Thomas Reuters foundation, titled Communities that uprooted and relocated after disasters The examples are short and recent, but none are in the U.S. I wish someone would do an indepth study of this topic.”
There probably are some property rights issues pending re the Christchurch NZ central business districts. As I understand it rebuilding is slowed by the huge no. of aftershocks and the instability of the soil in the affected areas.
The Center for American Progress recently published a report on home buyout programs, which apparently have been used regularly in the Midwest and have been shown to be cost effective. Report is entitled “Moving Out of Harm’s Way” and can be found at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2013/12/12/81046/moving-out-of-harms-way/.. Not quite the in-depth community level study you’d want, but close.
Actually, one of the examples is from the US (MS River flood). There is an interesting [non-disaster related] study relating to Ellenton, SC. Ellenton, and two or three other small towns, were moved by the US Government to build the Savannah River Plant. A very nice documentary is available a http://displaced.us/.