First, they waited for the water.

Now, they are hoping for power.

Hours after the worst flooding here in nearly 40 years, Marietta residents  began to plod back into their waterfront town Saturday.

Waterfront became water-filled when the Susquehanna River swelled out of its banks, prompting borough officials Thursday to evacuate more than 100 homes on historic Front Street.

Those residents were allowed back home Saturday morning, but few are back for good just yet. The lights might not come on for days, maybe weeks.

Firefighters started pumping soggy basements — many filled to the brim –—providing the first relief for homeowners who feared the worst a few days back.

Initial predictions had the Susquehanna River rising to near-record levels. Luckily, the river peaked Thursday, then again Friday, at just over 58 feet.

Marietta and Manheim perhaps were hit hardest by the downpours from Tropical Storm Lee. Between 8 and 15.2 inches fell in the county, according to AccuWeather.

A traditional Marietta measuring stick, at Shank's Tavern on Front Street, showed a watermark about 3 feet up the structure. That mark was a couple feet short of archived watermarks from a 1936 flood and the Hurricane Agnes flooding of 1972.

Residents said the water was highest about noon Friday — stopping a few feet short of predicted levels.

"All in all, I'm definitely thankful" for that, said Matt Kitchen, a Front Street resident. "I'm trying to look at the things I can be happy about."

The water level in Kitchen's basement is still near the ceiling. It had risen to about 2 feet on his first floor.

On Saturday, like many of his neighbors, Kitchen was waiting for a helping hand.

Firefighters planned to pump everyone's basement by the end of the day, although some residents still hadn't come back by midday.

Kitchen got his first look Saturday inside 28 Front St., the home he bought two years ago.

"I can't even begin to comprehend the amount of damage," he said while checking water marks on his living room walls. "I pay $2,000 a year in flood insurance, so let's see how far that gets me."

Borough officials said residents will again have power after water is pumped out and UGI and PPL officials have inspected each home, one by one.

"We are asking citizens to be patient," Angie Shearer, spokeswoman for the Marietta Fire Company, said.

The borough's sewage treatment plant was back up and running Saturday, and aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected in the coming days, Shearer said.

There were no reports of looting or anyone trying to move back in before the town's curfew was lifted at 7 a.m. Saturday, Susquehanna Regional Police Chief Ed Haugh noted.

"Everyone is cooperating with us," the chief said.

Haugh estimated between 300 and 400 people were evacuated.

Kitchen described his anguish in the hours he spent at a friend's home, waiting and wondering how high the river would rise.

"I started to freak out a bit," he said,  admitting he did sneak onto Front Street a few times just to see.

Kitchen, 34, wasn't sure when volunteers would get to his basement Saturday, and was skeptical about getting power back anytime soon.

"I have no clue," he said. "This is my first experience like this."

Half a block from Front Street, on Hazel Avenue, it seemed to be hit or miss. Some residents were fortunate; others not so much.

For Bill Libhart at 118 Hazel Ave., it was a matter of inches.

The water rose to his front door mat, but stalled there. He and his wife had moved all their belongings, including the family cat, to the second floor, just in case.

"The house was completely surrounded with water," Libhart said Saturday morning, while waiting for an electrician to turn the power back on. "I was expecting weeks, maybe months, to get back in. We're hoping to sleep here tonight."

"But you sort of have to curb your enthusiasm," Libhart said while scanning his Front Street neighbor's property. "These people aren't so lucky."

A neighbor allowed the Libharts to stay in a vacant room in her bed-and-breakfast business during the flooding. Bill Libhart said that's typical: Neighbors have been helping one another.

Up the block from Libhart, a resident said he has about 4 feet of water in his basement. (The Libhart home, a former carriage house from the 1820s, has no basement.)

Libhart grew up in Marietta before moving away, then returning about four years ago.

His first reaction to the flood news, he said, was "scared."

"You do what you have to do," he said, "but it's stressful."

"It's a very small portion of people that can do it," Libhart added, referring to living by the river. "It's a very unique place to live and we love it.

"But in the back of my mind is 'this could happen again in six months, or three months.' "

Kitchen said he might consider moving further inland in the borough, but said he was well aware of the potential wrath from his volatile neighbor when he bought his home.

"We knew," he said, "but it's a great town."