BARRE, PA, JUNE 28, SPA-- MORE THAN 150,000 PEOPLE FLED RISING RIVER WATERS THAT THREATENED THE OLD COAL-MINING TOWN OF WILKES-BARRE ON WEDNESDAY AFTER FLOODS KILLED AT LEAST 16 PEOPLE IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES, REUTERS REPORTED. WITH BUILDINGS SUBMERGED, ROADS WASHED OUT AND RIVERS SURGING AFTER DAYS OF TORRENTIAL RAIN, AUTHORITIES DECLARED EMERGENCIES ACROSS SWATHES OF NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA. TRAVEL ALONG THE HEAVILY TRAFFICKED EASTERN SEABOARD FROM VIRGINIA TO NEW YORK WAS HARD-HIT, AND RIVERS THREATENED TO INUNDATE MAJOR CITIES WHEN THEY CRESTED OVERNIGHT. IN WILKES-BARRE -- NICKNAMED "THE DIAMOND CITY" IN THE 1800S FOR ITS COAL RICHES -- UP TO 200,000 PEOPLE WERE ORDERED TO EVACUATE AS THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER THREATENED TO OVERWHELM A FLOOD CONTROL SYSTEM ONLY COMPLETED IN 2002, OFFICIALS SAID. THE COAST GUARD USED HELICOPTERS TO RESCUE UP TO 70 PEOPLE STRANDED ON ROOFTOPS AND ABOUT 150,000 PEOPLE LEFT BEFORE SUNDOWN, LOCAL AUTHORITIES SAID. THE SUSQUEHANNA WAS EXPECTED TO CREST LATE IN THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. POLICE AND NATIONAL GUARD STOOD READY TO ENFORCE A 9 P.M. CURFEW. "THE WORST PART IS YET TO COME," SAID PENNSYLVANIA GOV. ED RENDELL, SPEAKING ON FOX NEWS ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. A MAP POSTED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHOWED FLOOD WARNINGS SPREAD OVER 40,000 SQUARE MILES (104,000 SQ KM) OF THE UNITED STATES, AN AREA ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY OR THE COUNTRY OF ICELAND. WILKES-BARRE RAISED ITS LEVEES AFTER 1972 WHEN THE RIVER OVERFLOWED, SWELLED BY STORMS WHIPPED UP BY A HURRICANE RAIN, AND KILLED SIX PEOPLE. OVERNIGHT THE WATER WAS EXPECTED TO TEST THE LEVEL OF THE LEVEES' NEW HEIGHT -- 41 FEET. "WE HAVE A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION ON OUR HANDS," SAID BRIAN HUGHES, COUNTY EXECUTIVE OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY, WHICH INCLUDES THE STATE CAPITAL OF TRENTON, WHERE A MANDATORY EVACUATION WAS ORDERED FOR PART OF THE CITY. "THIS IS GOING TO BE THE LARGEST FLOOD WE'VE HAD MAYBE SINCE 1955," HE SAID. EVACUATION ORDERS NEW JERSEY GOV. JON CORZINE, RECALLING THE HURRICANE KATRINA THAT KILLED THOUSANDS IN NEW ORLEANS LAST YEAR, SAID PEOPLE SHOULD TAKE EVACUATION ORDERS SERIOUSLY.
