In this aerial image, the river is still high around the homes in Breathitt County, Ky., on Saturday, July 30, 2022. Recovery has begun in many of the narrow hollers after historic rains flooded many areas of Eastern Kentucky killing more at least two dozen people. A layer of mud from the retreating waters covers many cars and homes.

In this aerial image, a car drives over a bridge in Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, July 30, 2022, after historic rains during the week flooded many areas of Kentucky killing at least two dozen people.

In this aerial photo, some homes in Breathitt County, Ky., are still surrounded by water on Saturday, July 30, 2022, after historic rains flooded many areas of Eastern Kentucky killing multiple people. A thin film of mud from the retreating waters covers many cars and homes.

In this aerial image, the football field at Breathitt County High School on Saturday, July 30, 2022, is covered in mud after historic rains flooded many areas of Eastern Kentucky killing multiple people. A thin film of mud from the retreating waters covers many cars and homes.

Teresa Reynolds sits exhausted as members of her community clean the debris from their flood ravaged homes at Ogden Hollar in Hindman, Ky., Saturday, July 30, 2022.

Volunteers from the local mennonite community clean flood damaged property from a house at Ogden Hollar in Hindman, Ky., Saturday, July 30, 2022.

Teresa Reynolds sits exhausted as members of her community clean the debris from their flood ravaged homes in Ogden Hollar at Hindman, Ky., Saturday, July 30, 2022.

Phillip Michael Caudill displays a drone photo of his flooded home outside his temporary room at Jenny Wiley State Park in Prestonsburg, Ky., on Saturday, July 30, 2022. The state park is serving a as a shelter for flooding victims. Caudill and his family had to flee their home in Wayland, Ky., early Thursday as floodwaters rushed in when heavy rains pounded eastern Kentucky.

In this aerial image, the river is still high around the homes in Breathitt County, Ky., on Saturday, July 30, 2022. Recovery has begun in many of the narrow hollers after historic rains flooded many areas of Eastern Kentucky killing more at least two dozen people. A layer of mud from the retreating waters covers many cars and homes.

In this aerial image, a car drives over a bridge in Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, July 30, 2022, after historic rains during the week flooded many areas of Kentucky killing at least two dozen people.

In this aerial photo, some homes in Breathitt County, Ky., are still surrounded by water on Saturday, July 30, 2022, after historic rains flooded many areas of Eastern Kentucky killing multiple people. A thin film of mud from the retreating waters covers many cars and homes.

In this aerial image, the football field at Breathitt County High School on Saturday, July 30, 2022, is covered in mud after historic rains flooded many areas of Eastern Kentucky killing multiple people. A thin film of mud from the retreating waters covers many cars and homes.

Teresa Reynolds sits exhausted as members of her community clean the debris from their flood ravaged homes at Ogden Hollar in Hindman, Ky., Saturday, July 30, 2022.

Volunteers from the local mennonite community clean flood damaged property from a house at Ogden Hollar in Hindman, Ky., Saturday, July 30, 2022.

Teresa Reynolds sits exhausted as members of her community clean the debris from their flood ravaged homes in Ogden Hollar at Hindman, Ky., Saturday, July 30, 2022.

Phillip Michael Caudill displays a drone photo of his flooded home outside his temporary room at Jenny Wiley State Park in Prestonsburg, Ky., on Saturday, July 30, 2022. The state park is serving a as a shelter for flooding victims. Caudill and his family had to flee their home in Wayland, Ky., early Thursday as floodwaters rushed in when heavy rains pounded eastern Kentucky.

HINDMAN, Ky. (AP) — The number of deaths from massive flooding in Kentucky climbed to 26 on Sunday and several dozen people remained missing amid the threat of more heavy rain.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” that the death toll had risen by one since Saturday from last week's storms.

Beshear has said the number would likely rise significantly and it could take weeks to find all the victims. As many as 37 people were unaccounted for, according to a daily briefing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

On top of that, more flash flooding was possible in portions of Appalachia on Sunday and Monday as the latest storms roll through, the National Weather Service said. Rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour were possible in some of the same areas that were inundated last week.

A dozen shelters were open for flood victims in Kentucky with 388 occupants on Sunday, according to FEMA.

Beshear said state police were taking calls from worried people who can’t locate loved ones due to spotty cell phone service.

“We still can’t get into some areas to check on people,” Beshear said. “We’re doubling our National Guard. We’re going to work to go door to door, work to find, again, as many people as we can. We’re even going to work through the rain. But the weather is complicating it.”

Among the stories of survival that continue to emerge, a 17-year-old girl whose home in Whitesburg was flooded Thursday put her dog in a plastic container and swam 70 yards to safety on a neighbor’s roof. Chloe Adams waited hours before she and her dog, Sandy, were rescued by a relative in a kayak.

“My daughter is safe and whole tonight,” her father, Terry Adams, said in a Facebook post. “We lost everything today … everything except what matters most.”

On an overcast morning in downtown Hindman, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) southeast of Louisville, a crew cleared debris piled along storefronts. Nearby, a vehicle was perched upside down in Troublesome Creek, now back within its debris-littered banks.

With the threat of more rain, workers toiled nonstop through mud-caked sidewalks and roads.

“We’re going to be here unless there’s a deluge,” said Tom Jackson, who is among the workers.

Jackson was with a crew from Corbin, Kentucky, where he’s the city’s recycling director, about a two-hour drive from Hindman.

His crew worked all day Saturday, and the mud and debris were so thick that they managed to clear one-eighth of a mile of roadway. The water had rushed off the hillsides had so much force that it bent road signs.

“I’ve never seen water like this,” Jackson said.

In Knott County, Teresa Perry Reynolds’ home was inundated with water and mud. She and her husband would have taken refuge in their 44-foot travel trailer, but it was swamped by the floodwater.

“I have the clothes on my back,” she said Saturday when asked what they could salvage.

They found her husband’s wallet after searching a day and a half. It was left behind as they escaped the fast-rising water Thursday and went to a neighbor’s house. A team of volunteers hauled debris out of her house Saturday.

She and her husband are staying with friends. She’s a retired teacher and her husband is a retired school administrator.

“All I know is I’m homeless and I’ve got people taking care of me,” she said.

The rain let up early Friday after parts of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches (20-27 centimeters) over 48 hours. About 13,000 utility customers in Kentucky remained without power Sunday, poweroutage.us reported.

President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties.

Last week's flooding extended to West Virginia, where Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six southern counties, and to Virginia, where Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration that enabled officials to mobilize resources across the flooded southwest portion of the state.

Associated Press writer John Raby contributed to this report from Charleston, West Virginia.

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