AP Photos Jessica Bruce wades through flood waters after returning home in Dolgeville, N.Y, after she was evacuated early Wednesday. New York Gov. George Pataki declared a state of emergency for 13 counties.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Officials kept a close eye on the Susquehanna River today, but expressed hope that a recently improved levee system would hold back floodwaters that forced an evacuation order for up to 200,000 people.

Pennsylvania officials were still concerned about rising water in the Delaware River, and more rain was expected today for New York state, where thousands have already fled from rising rivers, swelled by a record-breaking deluge that has killed at least 12 people in the Northeast.

“I think we dodged a bullet on the Susquehanna. ... The Delaware is still the biggest problem,” Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said this morning on CBS' “The Early Show.”

In New Jersey, floodwaters rose in town after town along the Delaware River early today, sending fast-moving water into some homes evacuated by thousands for two days. A near-record crest was expected to sweep down the river.

Besides Pennsylvania's evacuees, at least another 11,000 people were ordered to leave their homes in New Jersey, Maryland and New York as rivers and streams surged over their banks, washed out roads and bridges and cut off villages in some of the worst flooding in the region in decades. In the Binghamton, N.Y., area, an entire house floated down the Susquehanna River.

Rendell said those under an evacuation order could be allowed back into their homes later today.

In upstate New York, the flood waters on many rivers still haven't crested, which was preventing officials from getting a better assessment of the damage, according to Dennis Michalski of the State Emergency Management Office.

The National Weather Service was calling for scattered thunderstorms across eastern New York today, with possibly severe weather in some areas later in the day.

The Pennsylvania levees appeared to be performing exactly as intended today and the Susquehanna crested at just over 34 feet, well below the top of the 41-foot floodwall. The rain-swollen river began a slow retreat at 6 p.m. Wednesday and was not expected to rise again despite the possibility of more showers and occasional thunderstorms along the East Coast.

A second crest predicted for early today did not materialize, leading officials to preliminarily declare victory.

“It is definitely going in the right direction and we couldn't get better news,” said Luzerne County public safety chief Alan Pugh.

Although the bulk of the rain moved out of the region, some streams were still rising from the runoff.

At Phillipsburg, N.J., the Delaware River was nearly 14 feet above flood stage at 4 a.m. today. The river's banks had overflowed by 7 a.m., and water was slowly spreading toward the front doors of downtown businesses.

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

The soaking weather was produced by a low-pressure system that has been stalled just offshore and pumped moist tropical air northward along the East Coast. A record 4.05 inches of rain fell Tuesday at Binghamton, N.Y., and over the weekend the same system drenched the Washington and Baltimore region with more than a foot of rain.

In the Binghamton area, a swollen creek carved a 25-foot-deep chasm through all four lanes of Interstate 88, about 35 miles northeast of the city, and two truckers were killed early Wednesday when their rigs plunged into the gaps, officials said.

After touring the region by helicopter, New York Gov. George Pataki estimated that property damage in his state would total at least $100 million.

Along the Delaware River, Trenton's water filtration system was shut down because of debris floating down the Delaware. The river was expected to crest Friday at nearly 8 feet over flood stage, the fourth-highest level on record for Trenton.

- Associated Press writer Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pa., David Dishneau in Myersville, Md., David Porter in Phillipsburg, N.J., and William Kates in Binghamton, N.Y., contributed to this report.