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• "Nobody has lived in here for well over a year now," said the mayor, who also grew up in the town. "It's depressing. It was beautiful down here. Kids used to play behind these houses, in nice green, cut grass."
• Breske estimates the flooding has cost him as much as $90,000, from building berms and moving rock to money lost on land. He eventually moved his house to higher ground on the west side of town.
• "A lot of people took buyouts. We decided to move," he said. "We've spent a lot of money remodeling over the years and like our house."
• Jens made water his No. 1 issue when he ran for mayor in 2000, but not because residents were worried about too much of it. He promised better water quality and infrastructure, and delivered with a water and sewer project soon after being elected.
• The area was facing a wet cycle, but a stretch of dry weather in the early- to mid-2000s had most residents thinking the worst was over.
• "We let our guard down," Jens said.
• Minor flooding hit in 2009 after a winter of heavy snow, but the major water struggles started in 2010. The main lift station has since flooded and one of the town's two motels has gone out of business. Houses have moved or been demolished or placed on stilts, and thousands of acres of farm and pasture land are underwater.
• U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist Dan Driscoll said there was no way to predict the abrupt changes in the last decade. He compares the chain flooding to that of Devils Lake, N.D., though Waubay's is on a smaller scale. Devils Lake has grown from about 46,230 surface acres to more than 200,000 acres and has risen more than 30 feet in the last 20 years.
• Devils Lake residents have been dealing with a steady catastrophe for two decades, and Waubay has been more of a roller-coaster ride with the worst coming in the last few years. And while Devils Lake has received more than $1 billion from federal, state and local agencies to store water, build up roads and dikes and add a second outlet, Waubay has gotten less than $150,000 in state and federal help.
• "As far as what the future holds, obviously none of us really have that answer," said Driscoll who's based in South Dakota. "As far as advice, I guess that's not really my business, but if I lived alongside that area I certainly wouldn't count on (the water) going down."
• About 20 Waubay homes remain below the federally established minimum flood plain level of 1,810 feet above sea level and will be bought out or moved. Census figures show the estimated median house value in Waubay in 2009 was $46,259, compared to $126,200 statewide.

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