MORRISVILLE — “This is my plot — well, what’s left of it,” Tom Lovell said, standing in a thick concoction of mud and matted plants Wednesday afternoon at Oxbow Park in Morrisville.
Lovell was trying to pry as much of his garlic from the swampy ground as possible, hoping to salvage the seeds so he can replant them next year. He estimated that his garden plot and the others had been covered by more than 6 feet of water the day before, when the Lamoille River crested above its major flood stage and sent water tearing through the small park.
Oxbow Park, wedged into a meandering stretch of the river, was almost unrecognizable on Wednesday afternoon. The parking lot and basketball court were ripped to pieces; much of the park’s grassy lawn, a popular local concert venue, had essentially disappeared.
Morrisville was one of several Lamoille County towns along the river where residents were starting to pick up the pieces on Wednesday as water levels receded.
“It’s flooded before,” Lovell said, “but obviously, I’ve never seen this.”
