ending an evacuation order for 200,000, but other towns anxiously watched as rivers approached record crests that threatened to extend the misery from flooding that already has killed at least 14 people.

Emergency officials kept a close eye on the Susquehanna early Thursday, but said conditions were improving and that a recently improved levee system was holding back floodwaters. The river crested at just over 34 feet — below expectations and well shy of the top of the 41-foot floodwall.

Some of the 300 people who spent the night at GAR Memorial Junior-High School in Wilkes-Barre were loading onto buses for the trip home Thursday morning, carrying personal items in plastic trash bags. Few complained about the evacuation order, even if it proved a precaution.

“You can’t predict the future, and it was too close to be sure,” said Sheryl Snyder, 41, a physical therapist who spent the night in the busy shelter.

STATEWIDE EMERGENCY

Image: Map of affected areas.

In New Jersey, Gov. Jon S. Corzine declared a statewide emergency Wednesday night. Floodwaters rose in town after town along the upper Delaware River Thursday, and a near-record crest was expected to sweep down the river from north to south.

State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes warned evacuated residents not to return home.

“The sun is shining but the waters are still high. The Delaware is raging,” Fuentes said at a Thursday morning news conference. “It will get better, but it will not get better today.”

Mary Iglesias and her extended family worried about what they would find when they return to their Trenton home.

NORTHEAST FLOODING STATUS

NEW YORK

Binghamton: The city remained partly flooded Thursday and the nearby town of Conklin was the worst hit in the area, according to Broome County spokeswoman Darcy Fauci. Hundreds of people were airlifted from Conklin and Fauci said it would take days for the water to recede. "Today is going to be a big day for doing a lot of damage assessment and getting into more areas," Fauci said.

PENNSYLVANIA

Wilkes-Barre: The area lost 10 bridges and 200,000 people were evacuated Wednesday. Levees held overnight, allowing officials to life an evacuation order.

Easton: The downtown area was under water Thursday.

Reading: Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded Wednesday.

Philadelphia: Flooding closed many roads in the Philadelphia area on Wednesday, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

NEW JERSEY

Phillipsburg: The river crested Thursday morning at a bit over 36 feet — more than 14 feet over flood stage. The river's banks had overflowed by 7 a.m., and water was slowly spreading toward the front doors of downtown businesses.

Lambertville: The town's sewage and dechlorination plants were both under water Thursday morning, possibly contaminating the Delaware River as well as the community's water supply.

Trenton: The river was expected to crest here Thursday afternoon at around 25.5 feet. That would make it the fourth-worst recorded flood in the city, though less severe than the 28 feet or so that forecasters were expecting early Wednesday.

“We dragged everything up out of the basement, and put all the furniture we could on top of tables or counters on the first floor,” Iglesias said. “We tried to take it up to the second floor, but nothing would fit up the stairs except the TV.”

THIRD ROUND OF FLOODS IN 2 YEARS

Althea Alford and her 75-year-old mother were making their third visit to a disaster shelter in less than two years. Flooding in September 2004 and April 2005 destroyed their oil furnace and other basement appliances.

“We’re just praying,” Alford said. “It’s more depressing now because it’s the third time.”

Ten bridges connecting New Jersey and Pennsylvania were closed Thursday, as were several roads near the Delaware River.

National Weather Service meteorologist Anthony Gigi said the Delaware was cresting Thursday morning in Phillipsburg at a bit over 36 feet — more than 14 feet over flood stage. Debris-choked water thundered against a bridge in downtown Phillipsburg and, across the river in Pennsylvania, Easton’s downtown was under water.

The crest was expected later in the day in Trenton at around 25.5 feet. That would make it the fourth-worst recorded flood in the city, though less severe than the 28 feet or so that forecasters were expecting early Wednesday.

More rain also was expected Thursday in New York state, where an entire house had floated down the Susquehanna River in the Binghamton area. By Thursday morning, nearly 3,000 people were staying in emergency shelters, according to Dennis Michalski of the State Emergency Management Office

The rains, which began over the weekend, have been blamed for five deaths each in Pennsylvania and Maryland, one in Virginia and three in New York.

MANDATORY EVACUATION

In Maryland, rescuers found the body of a 14-year-old boy who was swept away by flood waters earlier this week. A 16-year-old boy who went with him to look at a rain-swollen waterway is presumed dead, authorities said.

Officials ordered a mandatory evacuation in Montgomery County neighborhoods near Lake Needwood, on the north side of Rockville, where engineers observed soft and weakened spots on lake’s earthen dam.

By 5:30 a.m. Thursday, police and rescue crews had completed an evacuation of 500 apartment units and 700 homes. About 100 people refused to leave, said Bruce Romer, Montgomery County’s chief administrative officer. If the dam were to break, water could flood nearby roads up to 20 feet deep, county officials said.

In Washington, D.C., where record rains over the weekend flooded the basements of many government buildings, the IRS said its headquarters will remain closed for at least a month as it repairs tens of millions of dollars in flood damage. The agency said IRS service and tax enforcement will not be affected.

The building’s subbasement, which holds all of the building’s electrical and maintenance systems, was submerged under 20 feet of water, and basement flooding damaged offices, furniture, computer equipment and vehicles.

© 2006 The Associated Press.