BIG BEND - If the Phantom Lake Dam gives way, heavy flooding would occur downstream. Tuesday evening found 12-year-old Maggie Ewert giving special attention to her pet Gecko, Mr. Pebbles. Her family was preparing to evacuate their home along the Fox River and she knew Mr. Pebbles might have to stay put. “I’m concerned that if I don’t get to see him again, that I won’t get to take care of him,” she said as she rubbed the tiny lizard’s speckled noggin. “I like taking care of him.” Maggie’s mother, Lynn Ewert, had more pressing concerns. As the Mukwonago Dam appeared poised to break, she had 20 years worth of valuables to safeguard. The water outside her vulnerable home was already higher than she’d ever seen it. “They said if we hear the tornado siren here in Big Bend, that means the dam broke,” she said as she surveyed the contents of a fully-loaded pickup truck. “That would be the time to get out.” A little further down Riverside Street a collection of riverfront cottages was already flooded. The residents of those homes had moved most of their valuables into waiting trucks and started drinking. When your kitchen floor is already underneath six inches of water and a dam upstream is threatening to break, a few drinks may well be necessary. Still, Nick Seliger was keeping his wits about him. He moved everything of value out of his lower-level garage and watched the water rising with clear eyes. “I hope that dam doesn’t break,” he said firmly.