In Proctorsville, watching waters rise evokes memories of Irene

PROCTORSVILLE — From his porch on Monday morning, Arthur J. Tyrell watched the Black River flow through Grevens Field.

Tyrell, 82, said it was nearly the worst flooding he’s seen in a lifetime spent around Proctorsville, second only to the tropical storm that tore through the state in August 2011.

“I was forced to leave in Irene,” he said, even though the water never entered his house. “My kids came and got me.”

Tyrell spends much of his days on his porch, he said. He’s seen a bull moose strut through the field behind his yard. He feeds chipmunks and eyes raccoons, and he once saw a coyote “play tag with some deer.” Even on Monday, ruby throated hummingbirds hovered above the porch, escaping the rain.

But for the most part that morning, Tyrell was watching water.

At 5:30 a.m., he could still see bare ground in the ball field, he said. By 6, the river had started rising through the grass.

About three hours later, little of the baseball field and playground remained standing. A chain link fence, typically up to Tyrell’s shoulders, peaked only a couple of inches out of the water. Where kids had played a baseball tournament on Saturday, a river flowed.

Eyes surveying the damage, Tyrell contemplated calling the town office. A lone power pole still stood in the water. If it were to give, the wires could charge the liquid field.

“If that breaks off, you’re going to have a lot of power in that water,” he said. “And somebody might get hurt.”