WEATHERFORD, Texas (AP) – Receding waters brought hope that the remaining residents who fled the swollen Brazos River could return home Saturday, and rescue teams searched for two men whose submerged car was found earlier this week.

The river level had dropped to slightly more than a quarter-inch above flood stage Friday and authorities allowed some whose homes had not flooded to return. Mandatory evacuation orders had been issued for 2,000 people a day earlier.

“If things continue on the trend that they were and if it’s receded all the way … we’ll go ahead and allow the rest of the people to go on home,” Parker County spokesman Joel Kertok said.

Storms in the Southern Plains have claimed 11 lives in Texas since last week. In Burnet County in the central part of the state, authorities were searching for two 20-year-old men whose sport utility vehicle was found submerged in a creek Thursday.

Meanwhile on Friday, President Bush declared Texas a major disaster area after the storms of June 16-18 and ordered federal aid for six counties.

Governor Perry declared 37 counties disaster areas, making them eligible for state assistance. He joined local officials in a National Guard Black Hawk helicopter to survey the wreckage above Marble Falls, which took the brunt of a deluge earlier in the week but where much of the water had receded Friday.

Railroad tracks were ripped from the ground, trees and limbs were scattered, and large trash bins were tipped over.

“We’re going to go through some days of frustration,” Mr. Perry said. “I know we’ll all pull together.”

About 100 people near Marble Falls were stranded for a third day as water blocked all entries and exits, said Burnet County Judge Donna Klaeger. They had power and water but the Texas Department of Transportation was trying to get them out.

The residents had been notified of the evacuation but chose to stay in their homes near Hamilton Creek. Authorities said all were safe.

At the shelter in Weatherford, about 30 miles west of Fort Worth, Janice Olivares, her three children and several others staying there spent the rainy afternoon painting and drawing, thanks to a volunteer from nearby Arlington.

“I never thought when we bought the house five years ago that we’d be homeless already,” Olivares said as she waited with her three children at a shelter set up at a middle school. “That’s how I feel right now – homeless.”

In the subdivisions near the Brazos River about 20 miles south of Weatherford, the floodwaters ranged from 6 inches to 8 feet, authorities said. Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said some residents are still not being allowed back into their homes because the low-lying areas are under water. He said he saw a trailer floating in the muddy water – and water moccasins.

“It’s not safe at all,” Sherrif Fowler said.

National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Patrick said storms could cluster and create a more widespread threat of flooding this weekend.

Along Lake Leon near Eastland, about 90 miles west of Fort Worth, the water had started to recede, and authorities planned to allow residents to return Sunday or Monday, said Lt. Sam Williams of the Eastland Fire Department.

Evacuations were ordered for 150 homes there earlier in the week, although 25 people refused to leave the flooded area, he said.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed, but essentially this event is over,” he said Friday.

In Oklahoma City, rainfall was recorded for the 17th straight day Friday, three days longer than the previous record, set in 1937. Flood warnings were issued for more than 20 Oklahoma counties, and dozens of homes were under evacuation orders, officials said.

___

Associated Press writers April Castro in Marble Falls and Grant Slater in Dallas contributed to this report.