The draining of Lake Delton, the literal low-water mark at the beginning of a week of heavy flooding, started after two days of relentless heavy rain filled the lake, swelled the Dell Creek and overflowed the ancient Mirror Lake Dam behind it.

After 10 a.m. on June 9, the saturated soil beneath a 500-foot section of Highway A began to slide away, carving a churning brown channel to the Wisconsin River, taking at least five homes with it. The man-made centerpiece of Wisconsin's top vacation destination emptied its 267 acres in a couple of hours, yielding a muddy curiosity.

As officials pondered an expensive aftershock and answered questions about nonexistent flood insurance, engineers hoped to have a temporary dam up in a month and the lake filled again by next spring.

By the numbers:

Number of gallons of water drained: 696 million
Cubic yards of sand displaced: 85,000
Guns found in lakebed: 4