Wednesday morning flight over Rapidan Dam near Mankato 

I like this longer video where you can actually get a feel for just how quickly the bank is still eroding and falling into the river! Thank you for providing more than just a useless 10 second clip!

It’s fascinating to see the soil and rock layers

Nothing beats mother nature for ever. Especially when you ignore her.

The river always finds a way.

I've been following this story. I really appreciate the high overhead view. No one else is showing that

Wow. What footage. Especially where you can see it actively eating away at the bank. Some of the best i've seen so far, the aerial view really gives the full picture. Just too much rain/flood water for the dam to handle, and it made it's own emergency spillway. Prayers and condolences to the folks that lost their house. I hope somehow that the cafe will be OK!

Hey river! We will control you with this dam! River. What dam?

Once the river finds it's new channel, they should leave it alone, other than the work needed to address safety.

It's actually too bad the dam didn't just collapse yesterday. Much of the water had already gone down river, and it likely would have saved all the bank erosion and the house. The dam is done, anyway. ☹️

The top layers of soil which are dark in color are glacial till which was laid down by the glaciers. The lighter colored rock is sandstone which was laid down millions of years ago when Minnesota was covered by an inland seaway. 😌

Damn i was hoping that house was gonna be spared yesterday but i see now it was swept away 😭

All the water going AROUND the dam might just be the saving grace FOR the dam.

This is fantastic footage! And is that the store owners who lost their home there with a little buggy trying to save their belongings from the store before the store goes too? Why isn’t there anyone there helping them? This is so tragic for them. Can you imagine owning your home and your business and presumably the land. Then one day you wake up and all the land is just gone. I mean, how do you even recover that? The land no longer exists. 😭 I feel for them. 😥

It’s time to blow the dam, which has become nothing but an obstruction. Unless and until the water can flow thru that area, the erosion will continue. Looking at the rest of the river, you can see it has several ox-bows. This is on track to become another one. With that plugged up dam intact, it’s only gonna get worse. 😐

Minnesota is beautiful.

With the flow velocities past the piers, and no riprap because it was built in a reservoir, there’s probably a lot of scour going on at that bridge. I don’t think it’s going to survive until Friday.

When did it take the Home ? Looks like the store is next our prayers for the Family

Why wasn't the debris cleared from gates so they would open and let the water out instead of it washing over, it looks like this could have been avoided or maybe it doesn't have overflow gates to open

The helicopter crew/camera missed a good shot of the tree falling in at 8:10.

Thank you for posting this!

Those bridge peers are more than likely scoured away underneath. Even rip rap will wash away with that volume of water moving at that speed.

Its as if that river wants its width back and keeps washing away that side! Wonder if it keeps going until that store is gone?! WOW! Such a beautiful piece of land!!!! Will the land owner now own part of that river! WOW! Crazy to see all that go!

I don’t like all the turbulence around the bridge pier…hope it is well founded on durable bedrock…

If they had done something about the dam sooner the house would still be there.

Now that the river has eroded low enough, the spillways aren’t handling any of the flow, so it’s probably actually eroding faster now, since the new channel is probably carrying more flow now than it was at the height of the flood. It’s also now rapidly removing all of the sediment from the old reservoir, which I think is why the river is now black.

That business will go next. The flow of water is strong. People have concerns about the highway bridge. Nobody talking about that on the news. Seems mums the word on that subject

I'm wondering how long that bridge will last as the channel cuts lower behind the dam

I think it’s pretty sad that they knew the dam was bad and someone lost their home and business because of it.

That little damn is a badas*! Hang in there buddy! We’re rootin for ya.

Just a short while ago there was once a house sitting alongside that edge where the layers of dirt are shown in the clip. And now, nothing at all.

the power of water

Is the local utility that owns the Rapidam dam completely incapable? Once the downstream surge risk was reduced, the authorities should have opened or breached the spillways to bring more volume over/through the dam and less volume around the dam. Just letting massive peripheral bank erosion take place when the river flow could have been re-directed straight downstream is a catastrophic human failure.

It would good to have a geologist to tell us what we are looking at. The strata looks like a soft clay. I do wonder if a massive gravel dumping might have shored up the heavy water flow. The dam doesn't appear to be passing any water through what should be flood gates pushing all the water over to erode the bank.

This shows the power of water. from a scientific standpoint Amazing.. Cutting the bedrock. ty

That rock don't roll. Check out the color of the water...that is 115 years of sediment (11 million cubic yards, according to the MN DNR) that is going to be deposited downstream. The dam has not - and will not fail. It is not a flood control structure. However, the county is going to have some environmental cleanup and explaining to do.

Good fish got the river back for them

Looks like the river hit bedrock maybe no more erosion by the damn I hope that damn store is saved 😊

Is there a Dam plan? What beautiful countryside! 😀

I blame who-ever said / don't bother clearing all the debris blockinng the Dams spillways

look at the ground strata.. some strange dirt layers did that attribute to the incident?

😮The eroded section was awfully close to the dam size, Lord Bless all the folks there, Amen.🙏

There has to be a lot of concern about the west side of the bridge with the increased water flow on that side.

Was that a garden or a cemetery that was falling in I seen its a garden thank God

It's starting to look like the bridge upstream is also going to be at risk as it eats away at the bank underneath it.

When all this started, I felt bad for the owners of the house that was tumbling into the water. This dam is saving lives even though she has stress put on her. The water was diverted into the one house and play area, the water inadvertently even though rushing gave time for all the others along this river to prepare to move and get shelter. It is devastating to lose, but it is a building that held memories and even those memories cannot be duplicated the memories are what keeps the old building alive. The cafe store is at risk and even though it may be saved or not, it can be replicated and still sell pies. Those building holds memories, but it is the pies that keep people coming back along with getting together and have a good conversation with each other. It is a blessing one house versus many others if that dam broke apart, it is a blessing to others, but the owners of that house can rebuild and have fresh new memories. The next generations to come and make new memories as well as remembering the old. So, prayers are being sent to all the people who are affected by the floodings, stay safe, warm/cool, and blessings to all.

Well last of a quality build of yesterday

Just hope the bridge supports are safe!

Not that it matters now, but should'nt they be trying to remove the stumps and debris from the right side of the river bank, to allow water to flow through straighter. One to two bucket cranes would help a lot. At this rate, the river will chew the entire left bank away, and possible wipe out the bridge supports.

The little dam that could

Wow looks like tons more water coming through there now then there was. Cant believe nothing over the Dam now thats crazy

Does anyone know if there is an update as of today, Thursday 6/27? I’m hoping the store is still standing but I can’t find any news or footage that shows anything updated from how it looks in this video from Wednesday.

please dont let the dam store fall next

Nothing like useing Rip wrap to secure a water way and preventing further erosion. Been watching it from Idaho. Zero attempt of saving anything in its path. Pile and push... Ya dont even have to get close to the edge. My guess is, in comparison to the Baltimore Bridge. They wanted it to fail.

If the flight overhead was a Boeing, there would have been a second crisis by the end of the day.

Why didn't they open the sluices in old dam wall, or blew part of it up so the water could run straight through and safe the bank and houses above

Great flight. Thanks for sharing. I have subscribed.

This is a minor river, for those that do not know the area. It normally runs at around only 40-200 cubic ft/second. It ran around the plugged dam at around 30,000 ft/second. In 1965, it ran at around 45,000 ft/second. So, this should tell you that the dam is not a flood control structure. This is why the downstream people have nothing to fear as far as a devastating flood. This is not the same as the Oroville Dam in California in 2017 (during a 20 year 'drought'!!), wherein a massive reservoir of water is stored behind the dam, requiring the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. This dam is 115 years old and was simply built to provide electricity for a few hundred homes. The house that washed away was the only home built for a reason...it was for employee housing during the build. Ditto the store...it was to sell necessities to the laborers working on the dam. What no one is speaking of, is the 11 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment that had built up behind the dam, making it obsolete. Blue Earth County took over ownership of the dam after the floods of 1965 that damaged the dam beyond its usefulness. In 2002, the county made structural repairs in the amount of $1 million. In 2019, the county paid an engineering consultant to plan the costs of either removing or repairing the dam. It was $15 million to repair and $85 million to remove (which, given 11 million cubic yards of contaminated soil, seems awful cheap). Anyhow, the dam did not fail. The owners failed. But the county can now blame 'global warming' for the hundreds of millions of dollars in environmental damage done downstream, and simply bulldoze the dam, now. Luckily, the area is not populated to the extent that the smell and new pathways created by the deposition of sediment will create. P.S. - The distraction of the bridge pier scouring is meant only to distract from the environmental catastrophe. The piers will be fine with, perhaps, some newly added riprap. They are built on cast-in place pilings with concrete foundations. A short-term situation such as this flooding will not have long-term meaning to the pier's foundations.

that river has pulled a real shift, put some serious graft in.

That river literally cut itself a new path. The only question now is, how much wider will it cut before it settles down? I feel bad for the ones who lost their home and a large chunk of their property to boot.

We need to get this straight. The dam didn’t fail. The land bordering it eroded away. Get it right.

From the looks of the structure, definitely not ready for this Noah moment!

For Sale: Large 🏠 Motivated seller All amenities, especially running water Act fast, as this listing won't last😮

Is the the “Dam Cafe” there on the corner? Next in line for the water flow🤷‍♀️

Incompetence in state and local government at its finest!

I think it won't be so hard to knock down the dam now...

That bridge was built on top of the sediment that had accumulated behind the dam. With that all getting washed away, I wouldn't be surprised to see that collapse in the next day or two.

The quintessential example of our leaders

Now we can see how the Grand Canyon came to be . Time to demo the 114 y.o. dam and assess the feasibility of a replacement . As I have commented on other vids , an emergency spillway large enough to handle 500 year flooding should have been built after the 1965 epic floods here , at 1965 construction costs , in the exact location we see the water flowing now . This , then , would not be happening . Sadly it is .

I smell gold in them banks!

Thats a thick layer of top soil.....sad about the house....😳

I wonder if the erosion of the river bank will continue to threaten the remaining house?

It makes me think of the Grand Canyon.

What a mess! Looks like the river has reclaimed its natural flow!

Maybe the grand canyon didn't take that long to form after all.

Well it doesn't look like a dam anymore. Now it looks like a really expensive diversion to get the river to go right on around it. What does the real estate look like down river

Well, they'll have to build a new down. That's eight feet higher and two hundred feet longer

There has got to be some gold turned up with all of that water.

It would be nice to get a view upstream for a before and after.

Bridge pylons that support roadway current undermines especially the 1 support near the breach

I wonder what will be uncovered by all that water?

Is the bridge next? What a mess.

They should have put some charges in the dam a week or more ago and open up the flow in the centre.Probably still should do that!

The eroding area is still have more of straight line shape, my layman theory tells me that the bank still continue to eroding until the whole new water path turn into curve line (like a curve of circle) which river will flow more easily, free of resistance. hopefully the people responsible for the situation are aware of this and prepared.

Wonder if their property taxes will be reduced.

Was that dam built at an angle to the river or did the water push the dam around before it broke through the embankment?

The other two white structures will go over into the river as well. Perhaps the highway bridge as well. 50/50 chance.

keep new vids coming

Eventually will take out the store also.

Look at all that sediment from 100 years heding down the river And I don't understand why they're not pouring heavy rip Rap in there

Not bad for 100+ year old dam. I thought it would have all come down by now.

Looks like there is a second house in the trees behind the store?

Why didn't you show any results downstream?

I see eminent failure of the roadway bridge support from excessive erosion coming soon!

This what happens when you get storm after storm after storm after storm in the span of just 4-5 days.

After a few more weeks the river will be somewhat cleaned out of all the silt buildup over the years. guess they can finally put in a spillway so this doesn't happen again.

That is a lot of sediment heading downstream.

well guess they don't gotta make a decision on the dam... once the water goes down just demolish it

And, just one more point those that don't understand the situation. Farmland tends to follow rivers due to the expansive nature of past floods enjoyed by the land. The floods deposited fertile sediment that translated to great crop growth. With the development of drain tile, farmers found a way to drain the low lying and swampy areas that had previously been unfarmable. Many communities also had the money to install dikes and levees, which halted flooding of fields, and led to more developable, taxable, land development. So, after decades of draining lowlands and building levees (along with the impervious concrete and blacktop developments), the water that once fell as rain in swamps, replenishing the aquifers, and spreading outwards from the riverbed, slowly migrating into the flow of water- we now have cropland who's drain tile dumps the water immediately into the rivers, and levees constraining the formerly meandering natural flow - with nowhere else for the water to go. This is the situation today - with higher river levels and lower cubic feet per second flow rates that we have. Bam.

Well, I guess putting the water back isn't an option......

Where is this? What state please?