Flooding in Alton, Illinois

by Billy Flynn

In 2015, the small river city of Alton, Illinois suffered significant flooding. In his picture of Alton, Billy Flynn captured the aftermath of what was a once-in-a-generation event, but now occurs every few years. Flynn calls it “the simple equation of climate change: warmer air holds more moisture, and more moisture causes more rain.” As the water subsides, it reveals the new infrastructure of necessity, sandbags. We can see just above them Morrison’s Irish Pub, trying to stay afloat in a newly dangerous landscape. Morrison’s looks like so many beloved local pubs, and Flynn’s image of it barricaded against rising waters is a vivid picture of the everyday toll of inaction to the climate crisis. The stop sign in the bottom right corner serves as both a futile plea to the rising water and a call to end climate change denial.