In Rapidan, Minnesota, the Barnes family is almost synonymous with the nearby dam in imminent danger of collapse.
Their family home is only feet away from the Blue Earth River, which has overpowered the dam’s west abutment and is causing mass flooding along the area.
A few minutes away, the Barneses run a café called the Dam Store, renowned for its homemade pies and sandwiches. The Barneses have owned the shop — which has been in business since 1910 — for nearly 50 years, according to NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis.
As residents anxiously watch the dam, the threat of possible collapse hits extra close to home for the Barneses.
It’s a matter of when, not if, the family will lose its home, Jenny Barnes said.
“We’re surely going to lose the house no matter what,” Barnes said. “Whether it falls in the river or if we take it down, it’s damaged, and we will definitely lose our house.”
As aerial images of the dam’s damage surfaced over the weekend, some viewers noticed the Barneses’ home nearly dangling from the riverbank’s edge. The river devoured the house’s bottom layer, exposing its foundation.
The dam, which is managed by Blue Earth County, is not unaccustomed to flooding. Repeated inundation over more than half a century had already caused structural damage, according to the county’s website. A 2021 assessment determined that the dam needed to either be extensively repaired or entirely rebuilt — but that doing nothing “would pose a public safety concern and a tremendous liability.”