In 2012, members of the Quinault Indian Nation in Taholah, Washington, finally decided to move their frequently-flooded seaside village to higher ground. Five years later, they had developed a master plan outlining a new town. Today, however, due to a lack of funding, only a single building has been constructed.

In Socastee, South Carolina, working-class residents whose homes are frequently inundated successfully banded together after their individual pleas for help to elected officials went nowhere. Now they're waiting for FEMA to buy their homes—but whether they can afford to move anywhere in the area is an open question.

Around the country, a concept is increasingly being discussed as a response to the extreme weather and rising seas caused by climate change. Some call it managed retreat; others refer to it as climate migration or strategic relocation. Regardless of the phrase, it is the intentional movement of people, buildings, and infrastructure away from high-risk areas, a process that can be both complicated and sensitive. That includes relocation from coastal regions where the sea is encroaching, as well as from areas that have become increasingly less habitable due to heat, fires, mudslides, or riverine flooding.