[3] The Rapidan Dam Cafe and Store, which operated on the west bank of the river until 2024, was known for their homemade pies.

[7][8][5] The flood brought high water levels and heavy ice downstream to the dam, and "ripped out" 6 of the 7 tainter gates.

The failure of the gates caused the water level in the reservoir to drop 9 feet and exposed 400 acres of mud flats.

[9] Two years later in 1972 Blue Earth County ruled that the dam should be rebuilt or torn down due to concerns over the impact of a collapse.

[10] In 1983 the county awarded a contract to the Johnson Bros. construction company to restore the dam so it could generate power.

Part of the retrofit involved financial computer modelling of the dam's operation using 40 years of historical data.

This included filling concrete in a void between several buttresses and part of the base slab at the toe of the spillway.

In 2021 the county commissioned two studies from Barr Engineering Co.[12] to explore the options for the dam’s state of disrepair.

The largest damage was predicted to be environmental, as a large amount of sediment had built up in the reservoir, and much of it would eventually wash down river.

[22] The river suffered a side breach due to high water flows and washed away an Xcel Energy substation which provided power to around 600 customers; it also destroyed a shed and a home.

[28][29] The Blue Earth County Board of Commissioners has voted to remove the dam and replace the bridge.