Hruszka ran outside and saw that about 600 feet of land between his Mankato home and the Rapidan Dam had been ripped away, along with a substation and trees. Rising waters on the Blue Earth River had partially breached the dam, and floodwaters had destroyed parts of the surrounding land. Hruszka’s sister and brother-in-law saw pandemonium unfolding at the family’s restaurant, just feet from the Hruszka home, and woke him and his father up.
As the basement flooded, Hruska ran home, gathered family photos, clothes and a gun and took them to her sister’s house, about two miles away, where her father joined them. One side of the three-bedroom home quickly jutted into a cliff, just a few feet above floodwaters. Watching the news the next night, Hruska said she saw the house collapse over the cliff, taking parts of the structure, tree branches and concrete with it.
The damage was the result of flooding that ravaged parts of the Midwest over the weekend and early this week. Floods have damaged the Rapidan Dam in the past, but Hruska told The Washington Post she never imagined it would affect her own home.
“It’s not easy, it still hasn’t sunk in,” Hruska, 44, said of losing the only home she’d ever lived in. “We’re still in shock.”
Hruska said she hopes her family-owned restaurant, located about 15 feet from the edge of the cliff, won’t fall into the river either. Her parents bought the house in 1972 and soon took over the business, called the Rapidan Dam Store, which became known locally for its homemade pies.
Hruska said that as a child, she helped clear the table with her sister, Jenny Barnes, while eating strawberry and rhubarb pie baked by her mother, Linda. At home, she loved listening to the river water crashing against the nearby cliffs and rattling the family’s windows. They often went down to the river to kayak and fish.
In the early 2000s, Hruska and Barnes took over the business, with Hruska grilling the burgers and Barnes hand-baking about 60 different kinds of pies. The two even made T-shirts that read, “Best Dam Near Dam Site!”
The smell of grilling burgers spread throughout Mankato, about 65 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis, but most people came for the pie, which Mr. Burns called “Dam Pie.” The chocolate caramel pecan quickly became a customer favorite, Mr. Hruska said.
Burns eventually moved with her husband about two miles away. Hruszka remained in her childhood home with her 84-year-old father, Jim.
But when storms flooded Minnesota last weekend, Barnes and Hruska watched the river rise from their store. Hruska said he didn’t realize the severity of the situation until he saw water coming out of the dam for the first time in his life early Monday morning. Barnes said Hruska said the pies were baked that morning in preparation for opening that day, but the store hasn’t been open since Sunday because of the flooding.
Hruska said she had expected her house to collapse if a nearby electrical substation was damaged, and neighbors helped her remove belongings from the house and load them onto a trailer.
Hruska said his home insurance won’t cover the damage, and while neighbors have set up a GoFundMe page to help him find a new home, Hruska said he doesn’t know where else he and his father will live.
But Hruska said he knows what he would do if his store were flooded, and that he and Barnes would reopen in another location.
“That’s pretty much all we have left,” he said.
