Family who watched their home collapse into a flooded river near the town of At-Risk Minnesota ladies He pledges to reopen his nearby shop selling homemade pies and burgers as soon as it is safe to do so.
The Rapidan Dam Store remained standing Wednesday, but after the house where its owners, Jenny Barnes and his brother David Hruska, grew up, fell into the Blue Earth River near Mankato the day before, they’re not quite sure what’s next.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” the store’s Facebook post said Wednesday night, adding that it was a tough experience. “The Dam Store didn’t sell its last burger or sell its last slice of pie.”
This house’s disappearance into the river and hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed by floods elsewhere in the upper Midwest are among the property’s first casualties. Severe weather Sweeping the area as floodwaters move south.
Large swaths of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota have been under siege from heavy rains since last week, while also suffering from flooding. Stifling heat wave. Up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) 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, more cities were bracing for floodwaters. The West Fork of the Des Moines River was expected to crest about 17 feet (5.1 meters) in Humboldt overnight into Thursday. Officials said about 200 homes and 60 businesses in Humboldt could be affected.
Nebraska and northwest Missouri are expected to begin seeing the effects of flooding downstream in the coming days. Many streams and rivers may not reach their peak until later this week. The Missouri River will crest in Omaha on Thursday, said Kevin Low, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service.
Some stunning images were of floodwaters flowing around a Minnesota dam.
Jessica Kish and her 11-year-old son watched part of the house near the dam fall into the river Tuesday night. They often visited the area to see the dam and enjoy pie from the dam shop.
“It just kind of absorbed it into the water,” said Kish, of nearby New Ulm. “It literally disappeared.”
Blue Earth County officials said Wednesday that the river has been cut wider and deeper into the bank, and they are concerned about the safety of the nearby bridge over the river. After the floods recede, the county must decide whether to make repairs to the dam or perhaps remove it — with both options costing millions of dollars.
President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to discuss the impacts on Rapidan Dam, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency also arrived in Minnesota, according to White House officials.
Preliminary information from the National Weather Service indicates that recent flooding has brought record river levels to more than a dozen areas in South Dakota and Iowa, surpassing previous peaks by an average of about 3.5 feet (1 meter).
In southeastern South Dakota, Canton residents were cleaning up after 18 to 20 inches (46 to 51 cm) of rain fell in just 36 hours last week. A creek beside the 20-acre (8-hectare) property owned by Lori Limes and her husband flooded the playground they built in their backyard for their grandchildren.
Lims, 62, who owned a grocery store and wedding venue, said she had lived in the town of 3,200 all her life and had never seen heavy rain like last week.
“We felt like we were in hurricane-like rain,” she said. “It was unbelievable.”
Further south, in North Sioux City, South Dakota, flooding toppled power poles and trees, sweeping some homes off their foundations. Union County Emergency Management said Tuesday in a Facebook post that there was no water, sewer, gas or electric services in that area.
In Sioux City, Iowa, officials estimate that water has overflowed the Big Sioux River levees, damaging hundreds of homes. The local sewage treatment plant has been so overwhelmed by floodwaters that officials say they are having to dump about 1 million gallons (3.8 million liters) of raw sewage a day into the Missouri River.
Several roads were closed due to flooding, including Interstates 29 and 680 in Iowa near the Nebraska line.
