A family watches their house collapse. flooded river almost at risk Minnesota Dam is vowing to reopen its nearby store to sell homemade pies and burgers as soon as it is safe to do so.
The Rapidan Dam store was still standing Wednesday, but after the house where its owners, Jenny Barnes and her brother David Hruska, grew up toppled into the Blue Earth River near Mankato a day earlier, they weren’t completely sure what will happen next.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” a post on the store’s Facebook page said Wednesday night, adding that it had been a difficult experience. “The Dam Store still hasn’t sold its last burger or piece of cake.”
The disappearance of that house into the river and hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed by floods elsewhere in the upper Midwest were the first property losses in the The weather is different tightening the area as floodwaters move south.
An area across Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota has been surrounded by floods because of the torrential rains since last week, while also having to endure a stifling heat wave. Up to 18 inches (46 cm) of rain fell in some areas, pushing some rivers to record levels. Hundreds of people were rescued and at least two people died after driving through flooded areas.
In Iowa, many other towns are preparing for floodwaters. The West Fork of the Des Moines River is expected to crest nearly 17 feet (5.1 meters) in Humboldt overnight into Thursday. Officials said about 200 homes and 60 businesses in Humboldt could be affected.
In the coming days, Nebraska and northwest Missouri are expected to begin seeing downstream effects of flooding. Many rivers and streams may not peak until this weekend. Kevin Low, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said the Missouri River will crest at Omaha on Thursday.
Some of the most dramatic images are of rising flood waters around the Minnesota Dam.
Jessica Keech and her 11-year-old son watched as part of a house near the dam fell into the river Tuesday night. They often come to this area to see the dam and enjoy cakes from the Dam Shop.
“It just kind of sucked it into the water. Literally completely disappeared,” said Keech, who lives in nearby New Ulm.
Blue Earth County officials said Wednesday that the river has cut deeper and deeper into the bank and they are concerned about the integrity of a nearby bridge across the river. Once the flooding subsided, the county had to decide whether to repair the dam or possibly remove it — with both options costing millions of dollars.
White House officials said President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to discuss the impact on the Rapidan Dam and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived in Minnesota.
Preliminary information from the National Weather Service shows that recent flooding has caused record high river levels at more than a dozen locations in South Dakota and Iowa, surpassing previous peaks by an average of about 3.5 feet (1 meter).
In southeastern South Dakota, Canton residents are cleaning up after receiving 18 to 20 inches (46 to 51 centimeters) of rain in just 36 hours last week. A creek next to a 20-acre (8-hectare) property owned by Lori Lems and her husband flooded the playground they built in their backyard for their grandchildren.
Lems, 62, a former convenience store and wedding venue owner, said she has lived in the town of 3,200 people all her life and has never seen rain as heavy as last week’s.
“We felt like we were in a rainstorm,” she said. “Unbelievable.”
Farther south, in North Sioux City, South Dakota, flooding toppled utility poles and trees, and several homes were swept off their foundations. In a Facebook post Tuesday, Union County Emergency Management said there is no water, sewer, gas or electric service in that area.
Officials estimate that in the Sioux City, Iowa, area, water overtopped the Big Sioux River levee, damaging hundreds of homes. And the local wastewater treatment plant was so overwhelmed by floodwaters that officials said they had to dump about a million gallons (3.8 million liters) of untreated wastewater each day into the Missouri River.
Many roads were closed because of flooding, including Interstates 29 and 680 in Iowa near the Nebraska line.
