Taunton Residents Return

City officials reopened neighborhoods surrounding a storm-weakened wooden dam Friday, four days after evacuating the area because of fears that a collapse would flood downtown Taunton with several feet of water.

Workers pumped millions of gallons of water from the rain-swollen lake above the Whittenton Pond Dam and began shoring up the battered structure Friday ahead of a new round of heavy rain forecast for the weekend.

The 12-foot-high dam dates to 1832, and is near homes and businesses about a half-mile upstream from downtown Taunton. It was built to power a textile mill, but no longer has any industrial purpose.

"The City of Taunton will be on high alert this weekend," Mayor Robert G. Nunes said Thursday.

Some 2,000 people in the city of 50,000 had been told to leave their homes Monday. The evacuees spent the night in shelters, watching and waiting, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

About half were allowed back Thursday night, but hundreds of residents who live close to the dam were asked to stay away. Mayor Robert G. Nunes lifted their evacuation order Friday.

Authorities cautioned that the threat had not entirely passed for the working-class city south of Boston. A state of emergency will remain in effect until early next week.

On Wednesday, Nunes said he could not say how long the state of emergency would continue.

"We're erring on the side of caution," Nunes said. "We don't want to jump and say everything is OK, and, God forbid, have something happen."

Water levels rose as the area got more than 11 inches of rain this month, including 7 inches last weekend.

The pumping that began Thursday, combined with dry weather, greatly relieved the pressure on the 173-year-old wooden dam.

But another wave of foul weather expected to arrive this weekend could push area waterways back to flood levels. Officials fear another storm could overwhelm the dam and send a 6-foot wall of water through downtown Taunton, about a half-mile downstream.

With the water level lowered, officials hope to make some repairs before then.

The last time the city, 40 miles south of Boston and 20 miles east of Providence, flooded was 1968, when the same dam broke.