Muddy floodwaters poured into homes, basements and stores along the Delaware River and rose as high as street signs Thursday in some of the worst Northeast flooding in decades. At least 16 deaths were blamed on the deluge.
The city of Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania was spared when the newly raised levees held back the Susquehanna River, and officials lifted an evacuation order covering 200,000 people. But other communities drenched by record-breaking rain were not as lucky.
Along the swollen and still-rising Delaware River, thousands of people were driven from their homes, and officials closed 10 bridges connecting New Jersey and Pennsylvania because of high water. The floodwaters reached as high as the street signs in Easton, Pa. On the other side of the river in Lambertville, N.J., ducks swam down a street of shuttered antiques shops.
The supply of drinking water was dwindling in Trenton, N.J., a day after the Delaware River forced the water purification plant to close. Gov. Jon Corzine declared a statewide emergency.
