TRR photo by Diane Butler Dorothy Gorzynski is pictured Sunday amid flood flattened rhubarb at her son's Cochecton Center farm. (Click for larger image)

By TOM KANE

COCHECTON CENTER - "It was unbelievable how many people have come to help," said John Gorzynski after Saturday's storm that destroyed many of his crops. He was not alone on Monday on the flats beside Ten Mile River. The organic farm owner had a lot of help from friends, relatives and the community.

At numerous spots on his fields volunteers could be seen bent over, replanting the crops or removing mud with a backhoe. "We're trying to put the plants back in the ground again," he said.

Gorzynski lost a greenhouse and a whole field of top-soil that washed down the river along with the plants they contained. He lost his entire lettuce crop. Two volunteers could be seen shoring up the tomato plants.

"I might be able to salvage some of them," Gorzynski said.

In the fields were organic farmer Wes Gillingham and his two apprentices. "Neal Fitzgerald (organic farmer) was here with his apprentice working all day yesterday," Gorzynski said. The volunteers were joined by two of his wife's fellow teachers from the Narrowsburg School and other farmer friends.

"John got hit pretty hard and we''re here to do whatever we can," Gillingham said.

"Glenn Swendsen brought some machinery over even though he can't do any physical work now," said Gorzynski. "It's amazing the help I'm getting."

Fosterdale Equipment came with several pieces of equipment, he said.

John's mother, Dorothy Gorzynski, said that at the height of the flooding, the swollen stream surged over and around the county road bridge bordering the fields. "The (banked pavement) looked like a dam with water rushing over the top," she said.

The entire length of the farm was under water for 12 hours on Saturday. "This is the limit in which a plant can survive under water," said Gorzynski.

"We just may be able to survive this," he said.