Question
Hi Jim, I live in Missouri and we have recently been hit with some bad flooding.  We were fortunate that other but we got water in our house because we have a hill for a backyard and the water came down so fast that it had no where to go but in.  Fema has helped us as far as funding but I was wondering what would be a good solution so this doesn't happen again.  Would a small retaining wall be the answer? with some sort of drainage system behind it to carry the water out and around the house? If we did put a retaining wall up there would still be a hill behind that.  Just curious to what you think.

Answer
Im really not an expert on this kind of thing, and I recommend that you do consult with someone who knows the field before you do anything.  Something to think about is that anytime you divert water, it has to go somewhere.  You need to be certain that it is going in a place or direction that will not end up causing more problems in the future.