Forty-four people had been reported missing as of Thursday morning, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office said, as the death toll remained at zero.
Six inches of rain in just hours Tuesday caused extensive damage in Buchanan County, in western Virginia, CNN meteorologist Robert Shackelford said. “Combined with the fact that the area is mountainous, rainfall is able to collect quickly, and dangerous runoff occurred,” he said.
Just because people are unaccounted for does not mean they are truly missing, officials have emphasized. Phone lines are down in the area, making it difficult to contact anyone affected by the flooding, Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller told CNN on Wednesday.
The storm was swift and overwhelming, with widespread flooding and road closures reported in just a few hours. Radar estimates indicate 6 inches of rain fell in about four hours starting at 8 p.m. Tuesday, corresponding with a rain event with a 1-in-1,000 chance of happening in a given year.
Virginia’s governor declared a state of emergency to help with recovery efforts.
As searches continue, the forecast Thursday and Friday calls for sun, with high temperatures in the lower to mid-80s, ahead of a slight chance of rain Saturday that increases Sunday and Monday, according to the National Weather Service. The damaging storm was among several that lingered Tuesday night over the county and parts of Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia.
The climate crisis is exacerbating flash flooding, too, by increasing the rate of rainfall or the amount of rain that falls in a short period of time. A warmer atmosphere can hold more water, making extreme rainfall events more likely.
Driveways ‘fell down the mountain’
Events like this, in which massive amounts of water are dumped in a short period of time, “have increased in frequency and intensity in the Southeast,” according to the US government’s latest National Climate Assessment, “and there is high confidence they will continue to increase in the future.”
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Buchanan County around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. About two hours later, local officials began reporting widespread flooding and road closures.
Dominick Fragoso, who lives in Whitewood, said the water rose to his kneecaps.
“One of our neighbors’ driveways completely collapsed and fell down the mountain and fell down the creek,” Fragoso told the station.
The storm system also hit the Greenbrier Campground in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where more than 400 people were evacuated Wednesday after more than 8 inches of rain fell, said Perrin Anderson, the assistant mayor for governmental affairs in Sevier County.
“Debris and vehicles washed downstream in the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River from the campground,” Anderson said.
More than 100 homes were damaged in southwestern Virginia, said Billy Chrimes, a search and rescue specialist with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
“It’s gonna take time for the access to be restored so we can get in,” Chrimes said.
Roads were blocked by landslides and approaches to bridges were washed out in the storm, he added.
“In the wake of the devastation, I want Virginians in Buchanan County to know that we are making every resource available to help those impacted by this storm,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “While rescue and recovery continues, please join me in prayer as we lift up our fellow Virginians impacted by this tragedy.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated when the torrential rain fell. It was Tuesday.
CNN’s Claudia Dominguez, Brandon Miller and Raja Razek contributed to this report.