Why stay in your home when your neighborhood is surrounded by water and getting to work or the store requires the services of a 34-ton military vehicle that only comes by three times a day?

There are lots of reasons, according to the residents of Charley Bluff, a small, unincorporated enclave on Lake Koshkonong in the town of Milton.

"They don't want to leave their house," said Tom Sherman, 66, whose home was still dry despite being surrounded on all sides by floodwater that, as of Friday afternoon, was still being held back by sandbags. "I guess they just like it out here."

A handful of homes in the area are flooded and empty. Those closest to the lake have been flooded; those farther away have been dry. But residents say that for the half to two-thirds of the approximately 70 homes in the neighborhood that are occupied year round, the majority of people living in them have stayed — despite the hassle of having to either paddle, wade or wait for a lift from the heavy equipment material transporter the National Guard brought in to ferry people back and forth.

Water began rising on Lake Koshkonong after heavy storms over the past two weeks, and by early last week, it was impossible to get through North Charley Bluff Road into the subdivision by car. The National Guard showed up on Wednesday to help people get to and from their homes and by Friday had a set schedule for pick-ups.

The Rock County Sheriff's Department is strongly urging people in low-lying areas to evacuate, but so far has not issued an evacuation order.

Under state law, local governments have the power to declare an emergency and order evacuations, said Donna Gilson, a spokeswoman with Wisconsin Emergency Management. But if people refuse to leave, "there is nothing in Wisconsin law that allows them to mandate it," she said.

That doesn't include situations in which the people at risk are not capable of making their own decisions — disabled adults, for example, or children. In those cases, officials can forcefully take people from their homes.

Gilson said the communities of Baraboo, Gays Mills and Avoca and others have taken the step of ordering an evacuation after the flooding this month, but she didn't know how many other communities had done so or how many people had been evacuated under such orders.

Governments also have other options for getting people out of their homes in dangerous situations. In Beloit and Janesville, city officials used housing code ordinances against occupying uninhabitable residences to get people to move. Such ordinances prohibit people from living in homes where utilities have been turned off, for example. About 60 homes in Beloit were cleared that way and at least another 20 in Janesville, city officials said.

Despite the flooding, life seemed to be going on as usual in Charley Bluff. Residents mowed their lawns Friday afternoon or chatted on the street. And other than being surrounded by water, the only signs that there was anything wrong were a sandbagging operation at a local park and the hum of pumps pushing water away from homes.

"I would just say that they're trying to run a normal life," Sgt. James Davis of the National Guard said. "It's almost like a 'Twilight Zone' experience."

Rock County never issued a formal order to evacuate the area, and residents had a variety of reasons for choosing to stay.

Karen Roberts, 50, who has lived in Charley Bluff for 22 years, said the flooding is "not a hassle to me" because she works from home.

Her husband, a truck driver, also doesn't seem to mind, she said. He dons bib waders and sets off through the 4 feet or so of water at 2 a.m. for the start of his shift.

Others have gotten even more creative.

Phil Lancaster, 55, who has lived there since 1980, used part of a gutter's downspout to rig his 1987 Toyota 4Runner so the air box stays above the level of the water, which he said tops his bumper. The homemade solution worked when he tried it Friday, he said.

"I told my wife I'd drive her back and forth," he said. "She said, 'No, I'll drive that big (National Guard) truck.'"

Sherman, who has been in his home for 20 years, said it took about 20 people four hours to help him sandbag his home on June 13. The help was indicative of a bright side to the flooding.

"You get to meet a lot of your neighbors and they really pitched in," he said. "This was a chance for everybody to work together."