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On Saturday, south of the Porter River, 16 residents of the New England Home for the Deaf's Thompson House, an assisted-living facility, returned home.

"I'm so excited! I missed my home," Beatrice Crowley said through an interpreter.

Crowley and her husband, Bill, have lived in the Thompson House for two years.

"I really thank God He gave me this place," she said.

Throughout the weekend, displaced residents packed Town Hall, where they filled out forms with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and received counseling and support from Red Cross and Salvation Army workers. More than 130 people had registered with MEMA as of Saturday night - enough, Marquis hopes, to qualify for federal disaster relief.

For that to happen, Gov. Mitt Romney would need to declare a state of emergency.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said administration officials worked on the matter throughout the holiday weekend and may have an announcement about an emergency declaration as early as today.

If enough small businesses and residents report losses not covered by insurance, Danvers could qualify for federal loans from the Small Business Administration, said MEMA spokesman Peter Judge.

"It's not a slam dunk," Judge said. "It depends on what percent of the loss is uninsured."

Material from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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