The Rapidan Dam, a feature of the southern Minnesota landscape for more than a century, was “in imminent failure condition.”“We do not know if it will totally fail or if it will remain in place,” officials said on Monday as dead trees and other debris piled up at the dam and floods overwhelmed the Upper Midwest.
At one point, a support structure alongside the dam partly failed and gushing waters carved out a nearby cliff.
Video footage showed a nearby building collapsing on itself and being sucked into the river.
But by Tuesday, the main part of the dam was intact, and water flows were beginning to slow.
“The Rapidan Dam, we think, is going to continue to hold up,” Bob Jacobson, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said late Tuesday afternoon after state officials flew over the dam to survey the damage.
Persons:
” Bob Jacobson, ”
Organizations:
Minnesota Department of Public
Locations:
Minnesota, Midwest