UPDATE Posted Tuesday, December 1, 2009 -- 5:07pm
By Zac Schultz

Town of Spring Green: As the bucket of the backhoe scraped over the shingles and pierced the roof Joyce Christen had only one thought. "It's our brand new roof."

They had their home reshingled just six months before floodwaters filled this Town of Spring Green subdivision in June of 2008.

We were there as Joyce and her family used a boat to salvage whatever was still above water.

They never came back. They moved a few times before finding a house to rent, but that November they lost their special needs son, Shea. Joyce felt the stress of the flood and moving Shea to a group home led to his death.

The one year anniversary of Shea's death was last Tuesday, the day they signed the buyout papers for their house. "A year ago we were making funeral arrangements for our son. This time we're sitting in an office signing off our mortgage to get rid of the house."

Joyce wasn't sure if she wanted to witness the demolition. "Now that I'm seeing it come down I'm glad I'm here. Kind of a good feeling, I guess, to have the papers signed. Financially, we've got closure. Emotionally we still have some things to work through."

The day we met Joyce she saved an afghan she had been working on. A year and a half later, Joyce found one more keepsake in the rubble. "It was a white sweatshirt. It's got some glitter paint on it with the boys, Sean and Shea, their hand prints and their foot prints from 1990."

Joyce says with her husband working in Memphis, her son in the military and her daughter about to graduate high school, there's nothing holding them here anymore. She says they're ready to move on, both figuratively and literally.

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UPDATE Posted Wednesday, November 25, 2009 -- 5:11pm
By Zac Schultz

Town of Spring Green: Nearly a year and a half after floodwaters made a Town of Spring Green subdivision into a scummy pond, the first house is finally ready to be torn downIt's the beginning of the end.

The backhoes are ready, parked in the driveway on Prairie View Lane. Friday morning they will tear down the house.

In June of 2008, floodwaters and a high water table filled the subdivision like a bathtub, forcing families to grab what was still above water and flee.

In June of 2009, FEMA buyouts were finally approved.

"This house was at the top of the list for the most damage," says Town of Spring Green Chairman Dennis Polivka. He says after months of appraisals and paperwork, they made the first five buyout offers last month. "Tuesday we made offers on homes six through ten."

Included in that second group is the home of Joyce Christen. We've chronicaled Joyce over the last year and a half, as her family moved repeatedly, and she sadly lost her special needs son Shea. They had to put him in a group home after the flood, and he died in November.

Joyce says they accepted the buyout offer on their home on Tuesday, the one year anniversary of Shea's death. In an email she called it an earthly irony and closure.

In June she said she couldn't wait for the house to get torn down. "Can't we just demolish it? Can't we just get rid of the visible signs of what happened and get rid of it?"

Dennis says many of the homeowners have already moved on and moved away and feel the same as Joyce. "It's bittersweet. We're happy that we can now provide closure for the families of these homes, that they can get on with their lives."

Polivka says they expect to make offers on another five homes by the end of the year and hope to have all 28 bought out by next June.

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-- Click on the above VIDEO link for a NBC15.com Exclusive: How the story unfolded in front of NBC15 cameras.

-- Watch for special reports Tuesday on NBC15 News at 11:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m.

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UPDATED Thursday, June 11, 2009 --- 12:31 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin will receive an additional $75 million in federal funds to help recover from the severe floods that hit last year.

Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday the money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HUD allocated $49 million to the state last year. The $75 million represents a second round of assistance.

Communities will have to assess their needs and apply for relief funds. The money is to help with unmet housing, infrastructure and business needs.

The damage followed heavy rainfall last summer in the southern two-thirds of the state.

More than 37,000 residents registered for aid in the roughly 30 state counties declared eligible for assistance.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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UPDATED: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 --- 9:00 p.m.
REPORTER: Chris Woodard

A lot has changed in the last year and for some today really is a celebration because it's already back to business as usual.

Others are still struggling to get back on their feet and there are some things, no matter how much effort is put forth, that will just take time.

As a flooding nightmare unfolded in front of their eyes one year ago many along Lake Delton found it hard to believe, homes destroyed, a lake gone.

Today what they're seeing is almost as incredible.

Wilderness on the Lake General Manager Joe Eck says, "Achieving the impossible is how I would describe it."

One year ago Tuesday lakeside business owners watched their future wash into question but in a matter of months the lake is back and so are the customers.

Eck says, "The word is starting to get out that Lake Delton is back and Wisconsin Dells and the Wilderness is open for business."

The Wilderness Lakeside Resort lost 30 percent of their business last summer after the lake washed away.

Today they're already way ahead of where they were at this point last year and the reasons to visit keep coming.

9-thousand fish are being dumped into the lake as a part of completing the rebirth.

Founder of Lake Delton Fisheries Ben Hobbins says, "It's like if you have a grocery store and you don't have all those fruits and vegetables and you only have meat they're going to go to the store where you have everything."

Fishing may not be back to normal yet but it will be and all that means is business that's already good will get even better for places like The Wilderness.

Move away from the lake's shore and the news isn't quite as positive.

Owner of Gifts of the World Barbara Steinweg says, "The weekends haven't been good. Normally the weekends are better."

Many business owners like this one took a big hit when they say the tourists stopped coming after the lake washed out. They haven't seen things turn around yet but are hoping the summer season will bring a change.

Steinweg says, "It doesn't really start until Father's Day."

It's still wait and see for struggling shop owners but they need only look a few blocks away, to the lake's edge, to see what a difference a year can make.

Despite what happened at Lake Delton tourism numbers were actually up last year.

According to the Wisconsin Dells Visitor and Convention Bureau tourism was up 3 point 9 percent in 2008.

Visitors spent more than one billion dollars.

But some store owners say they weren't seeing that money and a lot more families are choosing to go to and stay at the large resorts, not worrying about the lake.

Mother Kristy Bird says, "I didn't even know it was back until we booked it and they said it was back. I know it is big to some people but we never went to the lake we just go to the water park."

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Posted Tuesday, June 9 , 2009 -- 4:04 pm
By Zac Schultz

Town of Spring Green: On May 29th, FEMA approved funding to buy out 28 homes in the Town of Spring Green. It's been a long time coming for one family that just wants to move on.

It's a one year anniversary Joyce Christen doesn't want to celebrate. "Sometimes you just wake up and think-is it real? Did it really happen?"

Last June, Joyce and her family fled their home as the waters flooded their Town of Spring Green subdivision.

Today, things are exactly as the flood left them.

"I'm afraid to go in there," says Joyce. The mold owns the house now. "After a few minutes in there, not even a few minutes-seconds, you feel the tightening in your chest and you can feel it in your airways that something is not right."

Household items are still in their place, as if waiting for the Christen family to come home. "It doesn't seem that I ever lived in this house," says Joyce.

But losing her home is far from the worst thing Joyce has dealt with in the past year. Last November her special needs son Shea died. Her husband's job has taken him out of state and some of her most treasured possessions are a hazard to her health.

Things like photo albums and her wedding dress are ruined. "I know I can't keep them, but I'm not ready to throw them out yet either."

A year ago Joyce wanted to know how long before she could get back in her home. Today she wants to know how long until it can be torn down. "Can't we just demolish it? Can't we get rid of the visible signs of what happened and get rid of it?"

That process is now one step closer. FEMA and the state will combine to pay more than $5 million to tear down 28 homes.

That's a date Joyce will celebrate. "I just want to see it gone."

The FEMA grant is a big step for the Town of Spring Green, but local officials say they still have flooding problems.

The Spring Green flood was unique in that it wasn't caused by a rising lake or river. The water came off the bluffs and was held in a plain by a lack of culverts along Highway 14.

Add in a high water table and Town Chair Dennis Polivka says the area is a bathtub with no drain. 4,400 acres were under water last year and some people are still running sump pumps.

That's why they want to build a drainage ditch to run the water all the way to the Wisconsin River. "We want to encourage more people to come in and build," says Polivka. "But we're going to be nervous about having them build in some of these areas that have flooded."

Polivka says they hope to get federal money to build the drainage ditch.

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UPDATED Tuesday, June 9, 2009 --- 1:20 p.m.

Press Release:

Janesville, Wis. The Rock Aqua Jays Water Ski Show Team will resume their water ski shows on Sunday, June 14 at 7:00 PM on the Rock River at Traxler Park in Janesville. This is the first full show for the team in nearly 22 months after flooding forced them from their site in mid August 2007 and the entire summer of 2008. The Rock Aqua Jays have canceled 38 shows, resulting in lost revenue and property damages exceeding $250,000.

The show scheduled for tomorrow evening (Wednesday, June 10) will be an exhibition instead. The team plans to have a practice that will resemble many of the acts in a show. The exhibition is open to the public, and limited concessions may be offered.

The Rock Aqua Jays Water Ski Club, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that performs twice weekly water ski shows from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. The team uses its shows as a platform for educating members and the general public about safe boating and water skiing techniques. The Rock Aqua Jays have earned 15 national and 12 Wisconsin state water ski show championship titles.

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UPDATED Tuesday, June 9, 2009 --- 11:40 a.m.

From the Governor's Office:

-- Governor Doyle Announces $39 Million in Flood Relief

-- Lake Delton Receiving More Than $300,000 to Rebuild Dam, Protect Against Future Floods

LAKE DELTON – Governor Jim Doyle today announced that 34 communities would share $39,220,410 in federal supplemental funds under the Community Development Block Grant Program. These funds will help the communities recover from damage sustained during the 2008 floods.

“Wisconsin’s people, communities, and businesses reacted to the natural disasters last summer with spirit, hard work, and generosity,” Governor Doyle said. “Securing this additional federal funding will help families and businesses continue to recover from the worst flooding in our state’s history.”

The Governor announced the funding today at a program celebrating the re-opening of Lake Delton, exactly one year after heavy rains forced the lake to empty into the Wisconsin River. The village of Lake Delton is receiving $302,260 to help reimburse for the work it has done on the Lake Delton dam to increase capacity and provide improved protection against future flood events.

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Posted Monday, June 8, 2009 --- Noon

One year ago many communities in our area were fighting rising waters.

Powerful severe storms pounded our area during the weekend of June 7th and 8th 2008.

The communities hardest hit included Columbus, Fall River, Spring Green and Rock Spring, just to name a few.

It was on June 8th when Governor Jim Doyle first declared a "State of Emergency" for 30 counties.

It is believed last year's June flooding was the costliest natural disaster in Wisconsin's recorded history, exceeding $765-million.

Of course, the most dramatic video from last year occurred one year ago tomorrow.

Our camera were rolling when Lake Delton washed away right into the Wisconsin River.

A 400-foot portion of County Highway A simply failed causing the lake to Empty.

Three homes washed away, two others were destroyed.

It took nearly a year but Lake Delton is filled now.

Special festivities are planned for tomorrow.

At 10:00 am, catch a Boat parade in Bartlett Bay.

At 11:00 am, Governor Doyle will hold a media briefing on the shores of Lake Delton. NBC15 News will be there.

And at 4:30 pm, the Tommy Bartlett Show will be free to the public. Another free show will also be held at 8:30 pm.