A village named Villa Epecuen was set up in 1920s along the shore of Lago Epecuen. Lago Epecuen has salt levels second to the Dead Sea and ten times higher than any ocean. It is situated at some 600 km Southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

This lake has its own unique history which withholds the belief that it was formed by tears of a great chief crying for the pain of his beloved. Not only this, this lake was also believed to cure depression, rheumatism, skin diseases, and anemia and even treat diabetes.

Villa Epecuen was set up in the late 19th century when residents began to arrive in huge numbers and started to set up tents on the bank of the river. The town not only had its own railway line but by the end of 1970, 300 businesses prospered in the town. The village transformed from a sleepy mountain village to a bustling tourist resort, with over 25000 tourists coming every year to soak in the salt water by the end of 1960s.

But the prosperity was disturbed and livelihood shattered, when on 10 November 1985, huge volume of water broke through the rock and earth damn and much of the town submerged under 4 (four) feet of water. The catastrophe continued till 1993, when the flood inundated the whole of town under 10 meters of water.

The unexpected occurred after 25 years, when the water began to recede and Villa Epecuen came back to the surface. To our surprise, only one person returned to this town. 81-year-old Pablo Novak is the sole resident of Villa Epecuen, who now lives with the memories of the golden days on 1960s and 1970s.
[SOURCES: wikipedia, mirror, dailymail]