Watch: Flooded Blue Earth River sweeps away building at Rapidan Dam in Minnesota
MANKATO, Minn. – A Minnesota river that flowed over its banks after recent heavy rain pulled a building into the rushing water Monday and sent it over a dam.
Randy Hanson joined other shocked spectators at the Rapidan Dam to witness a sight he had never seen before. The Blue Earth River rushed around and over the dam, after 8 to 18 inches of rain fell over the weekend.
The river had already claimed a power substation earlier in the day. That plunged about 600 customers around the hydroelectric dam into darkness.
Hanson took video of a metal building clinging to what used to be the bank of the river.
"By the end of the day I think it might be going over," Hanson can be heard in the video saying as he chatted with other bystanders.
He didn't have to wait that long.
"There goes the trees," he said as the bank collapsed.
The two large trees then disappeared into the mist of the newly enlarged Rapidan Falls.
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The metal building seemed to hold on for a bit, but then it started to move. The building picked up speed as it closed in on the edge of the falls. Then the mist and the fast water swallow the entire building.
"Well this makes up their decision whether they are going to leave it in or take it out," he can be heard saying in the video.
Aerial video showed the tremendous volume of water flowing around the dam and down the falls. The river already took part of the road at the top of the video. The dam is still standing at the bottom of the video.
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As debris piles up against the dam, officials fear the worst. They notified everyone living downstream but did not issue a mandatory evacuation.
"The Dam is in imminent failure condition," posted the Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office on social media. "We do not know if it will totally fail or if it will remain in place, however we determined it was necessary to issue this notification to advise downstream residents and the correct regulatory agencies and other local agencies."
The NWS issued a Flood Warning through Tuesday with more storms in the forecast overnight. The next round of storms arrives Thursday.
Original article source: Watch: Flooded Blue Earth River sweeps away building at Rapidan Dam in Minnesota
