Forty years after the Flood of ’85, Roanoke is still doing what it can to reduce future flood risk. Mitigation efforts have proven effective thus far.

The last thing Bill Elliot remembers before evacuating onto the roof of his building was seeing the floodwaters “kissing the underside of the mailbox” across the street.

“I thought, we’re gonna have to ride through this,” Elliot said in a recent interview.

Elliot and nine of his coworkers climbed a ladder to the roof of their building in Roanoke during the Flood of ’85, staying dry under a black plastic tarp and clutching snacks from the kitchen. The bookkeeper kept floppy diskettes with company data safe under his coat…

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