. >> reporter: despite its name, the town of waterville, minnesota has never seen anything like this.d you ever think that this would happen? >> no. not for a second. >> reporter: situated between two lakes, with a river in between, the community received as much as 18 inches of o'total rain over the last week, submerging much of the town where nearly 2,000 people live. >> our electrical panel is in the basement. so that was our biggest fear is our electrical panel going underwater and shorting out everything. >> reporter: nicole rosas and chad doering lost a dog and tens of thousands of dollars worth of property in the floods. there was no requirement to purchase flood insurance when they bought their house six years ago. so they decided against it. >> we could have gotten it, but there was no call for it. there was no threat of a flood. and it was so expensive at the time we were just like no, that's insane. >> reporter: according to data from fema homeowners in waterville pay an average of $941 per year on federal flood insurance. there are only 33 total active policies in the town

margie was on vacation in england when the floods first hit waterville two and a half weeks ago. waters have receded about three feet now, but very slowly over the past week and a half. many have begun the cleanup of sandbags and ruined possessions. but not all. initially, margie could only keep up with efforts to save her home remotely. >> awesome neighbors and volunteers. i mean, i couldn't believe how many people were here to help sandbag. i could see them on my security cameras. i couldn't tell who they were. >> across the street, leila borger's home is still mostly surrounded. >> oh, i'll bet you there's probably 10,000 here. >> the water reached the top of those thousands of sandbags and pushed the whole wall about two feet towards her house. in the end, only flooded her garage. >> my one freezer was floating, but they let that dry out, plugged it back in, and it started working like hers. >> there are still a number of other homes along the two lakes in town, still waiting for the water to go down. more in one neighborhood. no running water now because a water main break n