LAKE DELTON, Wis. -- Property owners who had their homes swept away or destroyed as Lake Delton flooded its banks won't be covered by national flood insurance because the Village of Lake Delton had suspended its participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.

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Owners of the five homes that were lost in the Lake Delton disaster on Monday are dealing with the shock of the loss -- both emotional and financial.

"It's devastating. We watched (the house) wash away. We were here when it cracked in half," said Tina Pekar, who lost her home in Monday's flooding.

The homes that were swept away or destroyed Monday would have been fully covered by the NFIP, but they now aren't because the Village of Lake Delton had pulled the plug on its floodplain designation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency seven years ago, WISC-TV reported.

The director of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Bureau of Water Management said that the village had been a participating member in the NFIP since 1975, but failed to formally adopt a new floodplain the Federal Emergency Management Agency map in 2001. So the village had its eligibility canceled.

"The net result was they did not adopt the new floodplain map, so they lost their eligibility to continue to participate (in NFIP)," said Russell Rasmussen, of the state DNR's Bureau of Water Management.

The program is voluntary and any community can participate and sign up at any time. If a new map comes out, local officials have to formally adopt that new map within six months. However, Lake Delton officials didn't, WISC-TV reported.

When WISC-TV asked the village president why the village wasn't signed up for the FEMA flood insurance program, he flatly said he "won't answer that question."

Village Board president Frank Kaminski refused to answer any questions, and said WISC-TV should talk to the police chief.

Police Chief Thomas Dorner and the city engineer said the village had a problem with the FEMA's expansion of Lake Delton's flood zone, which can make building much more costly.

So far, village officials have pointed to a lack of flooding problems in the past as reasons for why the village wasn't signed up for the FEMA flood insurance program.

But the participation issue has enormous consequences for the property owners directly impacted by the catastrophic flooding that occurred at Lake Delton on Monday.

Five homes on the lake were lost or destroyed when the lake burst an earthen embankment and sent parts of homes and assorted debris careening down the nearby Wisconsin River after a new channel was carved through County Highway A, which divides the lake from the river.

Some of the owners of the destroyed homes said that they tried earlier to get flood insurance, but didn't qualify because their village wasn't a participating member of the NFIP.

"We were concerned about flooding and they said, 'That would never happen. It's never happened and we have control on both ends of the lake with dams and you're fine," Pekar said.

But with Pekar's home washed away, she said she has been left with enormous losses as questions linger about the village's decision.

Village officials said that a total of nine properties were affected by the break of Lake Delton Monday. Five of those properties were houses and the other four were vacant properties that were still worth money. The total market value for the losses is more than $2.3 million, according to village officials.

Lake Delton Is Smaller Than Madison Area Lakes

The 80-year-old, man-made Lake Delton is much smaller in terms of surface area and depth than the most Madison area lakes.

While Lake Delton is about 267 surface acres, Lake Mendota is nearly 10,000 surface acres. Lake Monona is almost 3,300 surface acres. In other words, about 36 Lake Deltons could fit into Lake Mendota.

Lake Delton is about two-thirds the size of Lake Wingra.

It's estimated that it would take about two weeks to re-fill the lake once all set up work is done.

However, officials haven't agreed on a course of action as yet.

Lake Delton's police chief said that first, officials would set up a temporary dam to stop the water rushing through the breech formed on Monday. After doing so, they would redirect the water back to the Lake Delton Dam.