The first residents returning to the Derbyshire town of Whaley Bridge have spoken of their delight at getting home after the "nightmare" of being evacuated.
A select few families were given the news they could return to their properties at a public meeting on Tuesday, after being forced away when a collapsed dam threatened a devastating flood.
Homeowners at 55 properties in the Horwich End area of the town will be allowed to return home today, police said.
Deputy Chief Constable of Derbyshire Police Rachel Swann said others would have to remain evacuated until Wednesday, when a further inspection will take place.
Whaley Bridge dam - In pictures
She said: "I have got a meeting at 12pm tomorrow where I am expecting we will have good news.
"We have obviously been pumping the water out and it has gone down at a fast speed. It is now beyond 9.5 metres.
"We will keep draining the water until it is safe to stop.
"What we need to do is just to check the reservoir is fit for when it rains again and we have got a yellow weather warning."
One resident who has returned, John Lomas, said: "It's great to be back home. All the services guys have done an excellent job, I'm very proud of them all."
Another returning resident, Melissa Broxup, said the last few days had been "a nightmare. An absolute nightmare".
"I've not been able to go anywhere and Whaley is so quiet. Everyone in Whaley has been amazing. It's not easy," she said.
Asked what it was like to be one of the first to be let back in, she said: "It's great. I can finally get some sleep. I just can't wait to get back in my flat.
"I'm happy but on the other side I'm gutted for those who can't come back."
Addressing what would happen once more people are given the green light to return home, Ms Swann said all cordons would be lifted and roads would go back to normal.
In the meantime, she insisted that security measures were still in force in the area after reports of burglaries and prowlers.
Ms Swann said: "We can assure you that security of the area continues. We are using drones regularly to patrol the area."
This comes after Derbyshire Police previously said there is "no way of knowing" when the residents of Whaley Bridge will be able to return to their homes.
More than 1,500 people have been evacuated from the Derbyshire town since Thursday following heavy rain due to concerns over a damaged dam.
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Derbyshire Police said earlier "work is ongoing" at the dam, as it confirmed evacuations were still in place, despite some residents refusing to leave their properties.
In response to a tweet which said "the dam is considered safe", the force said: "Nowhere have we said that the dam is safe now.
"Work is ongoing, and road closures and evacuations are still in place to preserve life.
"We will open roads and let people return home as soon as we can, but we have no way of knowing when this will be."
The forced added that while a safe water level at the reservoir had been reached, with engineers set to assess the damage to the wall before making a decision on allowing residents to return.
Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Swann said: "It is crucial that the inspections are now made by experts to ensure that the dam wall is safe prior to residents returning to their homes.
"Our main concern remains the safety of the public in Whaley Bridge and those people will only be allowed to return to the town when it is deemed absolutely safe and they are no longer at risk."
Commenting on the current status of the dam, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "Derbyshire appliances are still working with partner agencies at Toddbrook Reservoir in Whaley Bridge to secure the dam wall.
"We thank everyone working at the incident and in the surrounding area for their continued support and patience."
At a meeting on Tuesday afternoon, residents are likely to be told there is still work to do to make the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir safe.
As well as the fire service work, an RAF Chinook was drafted in on Tuesday to help the previously dropped bags of aggregate settle into place.
Giving an update on the situation, RAF Regional Liaison Officer for the North West, Wing Commander Gary Lane, said: "At the request of the civil engineers, we had a few bits of subsidence where the bags that we put in over Friday and Saturday have settled... so we've been asked to fill those in.
"All it is, is the big slab that we put in, there's a small concave area that needed a few more bags in, so the engineers asked us to come back in and drop those.
"We've done 39 tonnes this morning and we're seeing how that goes on.
"The work we have done is just finding its feet. When you put a load of aggregate down it needs stamping in, we've not been able to flatten that because it has just been dropped."
Around 100 military personnel in total had been drafted in to help with the dam, Mr Lane said.
The Canal and River Trust also released a statement which said it had passed the target water level of eight metres.
In the statement, the trust said: "Pumping continued throughout the night and the reservoir is currently at 25% of its holding capacity with the water level down by 8.4 metres.
"The water has been pumped out at a controlled rate and good progress is being made.
"Throughout the morning an RAF Chinook helicopter will continue to drop one tonne bags filled with aggregate to further stabilise the spillway."
The statement added: "Again, our thanks go to anyone affected by the current situation for their co-operation and patience and to the many who are supporting the emergency operation."
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said it is "very much in the emergency phase now".
He added: "We are currently repairing and carrying out construction work.
"It is a long-term construction project, but we will not have started from scratch. It could take 18 months, two years, three years, who knows?"
Additional reporting by PA.