Large rock smashes into home and kills 76-year-old in Iowa landslide, police say

A landslide sent rocks tumbling into an Iowa home, killing a 76-year-old man, officials told news outlets.

Deputies responded to a 911 call at about 10:40 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, after a hillside collapsed and slid into a rural house below, the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release, KTTC reported.

First responders arrived at the scene and found the man dead inside the home, having been struck by a large rock, the outlet reported.

Officials say the large rock crashed through a wall of the home, KCRG reported.

An investigation is underway, the sheriff’s office said, KWWL reported.

Landslides are rare in Iowa, with only 13 recorded over a 12-year period from 2007 to 2019, none of which were fatal, according to a 2022 Iowa Department of Transportation report.

“Although a significant landslide or rockfall has not occurred in Iowa, the risk still exists with the right combination of factors. Data collection of landslides and rockfalls in Iowa is sporadic with no state agency maintaining an inventory or database,” the department said. However, such data is collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, the report said.

Allamakee County is a roughly 220-mile drive northeast from Des Moines.

This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Large rock smashes into home and kills 76-year-old in Iowa landslide, police say."