On July 9, 1993, Jimmy Scott’s arms and back ached from lifting fifty-pound sandbags all day. He and scores of other volunteers had been working against time and the rising waters of the Mississippi River to secure the levee that protected West Quincy, Missouri, from these waters. When he left the levee that day, he felt satisfied that his work would help save the community if the swollen river began to rise any more. One week later, however, Jimmy’s life changed dramatically when the levee broke—destroying everything within a 14,000-acre radius—and he found himself charged with intentionally creating a catastrophe.