Heartbreaking moment family’s Rapidan Dam house is washed away after flooding forced them to flee home and store they’ve run for 50 years

Footage captured the moment a family’s home collapsed into the Rapidan Dam following historic flooding across Minnesota.

Property owner Jenny Barnes, whose family has operated The Dam Store for five decades, admitted days earlier that it was no surprise her home fell into the Blue Earth River.

‘It will happen. We don’t know when, but inevitably the house will disappear,” Barnes said KARE.

The Minnesota home teetered on the edge of the river for years, but the impending failure of the Rapidan Dan dangerously eroded its foundations and led to its collapse on Tuesday.

The home, which operated a local store for decades, teetered on the edge of the Blue Earth River when the Rapidan Dam began to give way before erosion destroyed its foundations Tuesday.

The fall came days after the region was hit by heavy rains that led to severe flooding, putting excessive strain on the Rapidan Dam.

Officials say the dam is expected to break and Barnes said she woke up early Monday morning to the sound of explosions at the dam.

The sounds turned out to be the failure of an electrical substation near the dam as heavy rain poured in, with footage showing the current flowing over the dam and eroding the foundation of their home.

Barnes said her brother and father were in the home at the time and later Monday they were forced to leave the home where their family had lived since 1972.

In an alert issued Monday as images showed parts of the dam in ruins, Blue Earth County Emergency Management stated: “We do not know if the dam will fail completely or if it will remain in place.

“However,” the agency added, “we determined that it was necessary to issue this notice to advise downstream residents and the appropriate regulatory authorities and other local agencies.”

Rapidan Dam Store owner Jenny Barnes (pictured) recalled the moment she heard loud bangs and saw flashes of light at 2 a.m. Monday and knew it was time for her family to evacuate

Barnes said she woke up early Monday morning to the sound of explosions at the dam, an Xcel Energy substation that failed (photo) due to the flooding.

Officials say the Rapidan Dam has reached the point of “imminent failure” as a result of the flooding

The shop had operated near the dam since 1910 before Barnes’ father bought it more than fifty years ago, becoming a local favorite known for its homemade pies.

‘That’s our life too. That’s our business; that is our livelihood. It’s everything to us,” Barnes told Fox9 on Monday.

‘It will happen. We don’t know when, but inevitably the house will go.’

Officials said the final collapse occurred late Tuesday evening and continued to monitor the debris for possible impacts downstream.

Locals gathered around the river to watch the final moment when the house collapsed. Residents said they were sad to see the main store falling to pieces.

‘For some people this is a historical monument. For us, it’s a life-changing event,” resident Shannon Whittet said CBS News.

“We grew up getting pie there. I mean, do a route, buy a Pepsi, buy an ice cream and went there to play in the river,” added local John Lippman.

Although officials say the dam is in an “imminent state of failure,” Sheriff Jeff Wersal emphasizes that a “catastrophic event would not be that significant.”

The dam failure would raise the river’s water level about two feet, but the river also has a levee system that officials say they are confident could prevent significant damage.

Locals gathered around the river to watch the final moment when the house collapsed. Residents said they were sad to see the main store falling to pieces.

Barnes (left) and her family have run the shop since 1972 and it had become a local favourite, known for its homemade cakes

Barnes admitted that while her house was still standing, she expected it to collapse, adding: “It will happen. We don’t know when, but it’s inevitable that the house will go down.”

In their own statement, the National Weather Service described how the failure will cause the portion of the river that cuts through Mankato to fall just below major flood status Tuesday morning.

Citizens in low-lying areas of the Minnesota River Valley have now been told to evacuate – while officials continue to monitor whether the Rapidan Dam will completely collapse.

Twenty other cities — like Fairmont — are also in the flash flood radius, as water has already washed away much of the dam, raising questions about its structural integrity for years.

Gov. Tim Walz and state emergency officials cited this type of research when issuing their own statement Monday morning, saying nearby roads are at risk of flooding.

“I know the structural integrity of the dam has been a question for a long time,” Governor Walz said of the longstanding structure, built in 1910 by the Ambersen Hydraulic Construction Company.

The Rapidan Dam was built between 1908 and 1910. It is 24 meters high and 145 meters long and is made entirely of concrete.

Officials are currently implementing the opening phases outlined in the Rapidan Dam Emergency Action Plan, a guidance document that outlines how to respond to such a failure and how to help potentially affected people who are on the back burner.