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Home Rendered Uninhabitable By Mudslide To Be Demolished

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Workers are now trying to stop an even larger mudslide in an Eden Prairie neighborhood after a section of land gave way following the weekend's heavy rains.

The initial slide happened off Burr Ridge Lane at around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The deck of a home on the street's 11000 block collapsed, and city leaders voted Monday to demolish the home after it was deemed uninhabitable.

"It's kinda stressful," said Jack Zurn, who lived in the house with his parents and siblings. "I got finals and this happening."

He and his family spent Monday morning moving their things out of the home his parents bought in 2002.

His mom, Revi Zurn, said her children found it hard to believe the home they grew up in will soon be gone.

"It's very shocking when you see the magnitude of what can Mother Nature can do in a very short timeframe, it's a little bit mind-bending," said Robert Ellis, the city's Public Works director.

Not only did the Zunrs' deck collapse, but their lawn receded.

Ellis says it all started with a storm drain pipe that began spewing in mid-May, then the weekend's storms made matters much worse. That's when the ground collapse began.

"Erosion happens very quickly," Ellis said, "and once it starts, it's very difficult to slowdown or stop."

Jack slept through the slide, but his neighbor, Deb Perry, didn't.

"It was…boom!" she said.

The Zurns all got out of the home safely.

Before the mudslide, the city was working with two companies to repair the neighborhood's stormwater sewer system. Now, the city plans to acquire the property the Zurns' home was on to install a new stormwater sewer system and stabilize the slope.

Preliminary estimates say clean-up could cost $1 million and take up to 8 weeks.

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