A Minnesota family living on the edge of a failing dam says it’s only a matter of time before their home of 50 years falls 80 feet to the ground.
The 114-year-old Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River is in an “imminent state of failure” after severe flooding caused by abnormally high rainfall.
The situation has endangered The Dam Store, known for its homemade cakes, as well as the home of the family who have owned it for 50 years.
‘It will happen. We don’t know when, but inevitably the house will disappear,” said owner Jenny Barnes. KARE.
Aerial footage shows the house teetering on the edge of the river as water flows through the eroded earth.
A Minnesota family living on the edge of a failing dam says it’s only a matter of time before their 50-year-old home crumbles to the ground
‘It will happen. We don’t know when, but inevitably the house will disappear,” owner Jenny Barnes told KARE.
“It’s my childhood. I grew up in the house, I grew up in the checker shop. I’ve been there all my life,” Barnes said. CBS News.
The store has been open since 1910 and has been in the family since 1972, when it was purchased by Barnes’ father Jim Hruska, who still lives in the house next to the store.
‘That’s our life too. That’s our business; that is our livelihood. It’s everything to us,” Barnes told Fox 9.
‘It will happen. We don’t know when, but inevitably the house will go.’
Barnes 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.
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
The store has been open since 1910 and has been family owned since 1972. Barnes will be seen in 2022
Barnes’ father Jim Hruska has run the store since he bought it in 1972
“We had to evacuate this morning and get as much out as possible,” she said WCCO.
The explosion Barnes witnessed was the Xcel Energy substation, located near the dam that was actually washed away.
Debris started accumulating there on Sunday after unusually heavy rainfall. It left the century-old dam “in a threatened condition,” officials said.
By 10:36 a.m. Monday, the river had eroded the earth around the west side of the dam near the south end of Mankato to the point where water was flowing over the concrete, endangering the city of 45,140.
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.”
Onlookers get a glimpse of the damage to the Rapidan Dam in Rapidan on Monday
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.”
Meanwhile, debris dislodged by the water flow continues to flow downstream as power outages have also been reported in surrounding areas.
Pieces of provincial infrastructure are among the debris currently being sent downstream, officials said
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 — as officials continue to monitor whether the Rapidan Dam will fully yield.
An Xcel Energy substation was reduced to rubble and washed away by the flood
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.