ANSTED, W.Va. -- Two men who were presumed dead when a camper was swept away in rushing waters during West Virginia flooding were found alive, officials said Monday as more heavy rain fell on already soaked parts of the state.
The discovery of the men lowers the death toll to 23, officials said. That number comprises 20 bodies found and three people who are missing and presumed dead.
The men were either camping or getting ready to set up camp when the rain started last Thursday, said Timothy Rock, spokesman for West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
They left all of their gear and their truck at the camp site in the Blue Bend area of the Monongahela National Forest in Greenbrier County, the hardest-hit area, and caught a ride out with another party.
"I think the first responders must have reported them missing and that got into them being just presumed dead. Then they wound up turning up yesterday," Rock said.
Greenbrier County Sheriff Jan Cahill said the men had left their belongings at the campground and went home. Cahill also said the men were never on his office's presumed dead list.
The men were from the Bluefield area -- about a two-hour drive from the campsite. Rock and Cahill did not know their names.
The National Weather Service had warned of more rain Moday in some areas ravaged by flooding, including Greenbrier, Kanawha and Nicholas counties.
"Everybody's just keeping an eye on the sky" as search-and-rescue teams continue to check whether everyone is accounted for, Rock said.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said during a news conference in Clendenin, about 70 miles northwest of Rainelle, that thousands of homes were lost and "thousands of others that will need some kind of rehab done to them to fix them up. Same thing with businesses."
Clendenin Mayor Gary Bledsoe said 99 percent of the town's businesses were gone and 60 percent of the town's homes were destroyed. The town has a population of about 1,200 people. Tomblin didn't have any specific statewide numbers on the destruction.
The governor defended the state's preparation and response, but conceded it was caught off guard by an uncertain forecast and just how much rain fell in such a short amount of time.
"We didn't anticipate, I don't think, being as bad as it was with as heavy amounts as we had," the governor said. "I just think that it came up so fast and no one was expecting high water to this proportion."
Early indications are that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of homes have been damaged or destroyed. Roane County reported 500 properties damaged. Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are taking stock of the disaster and National Guard crews were removing debris.
More than 400 people were staying in 17 shelters across the state, and many people were trying to come to grips with ruined property and where they'll live next. Others formed armed patrols to protect what was left of their homes and possessions after reports of looting.
Fayette County Sheriff Steve Kessler warned in a statement posted to Facebook that anyone caught looting would be arrested and jailed, according to WCHS-TV.
"If the residents of this area catch you first, you may not make it to jail," he said.
On Sunday, dozens of residents from Rainelle remained at a shelter more than 25 miles away at the Ansted Baptist Church, where singing from inside mixed with the bustle of activity outside.
The church's gymnasium was converted into a shelter. The church also is a drop-off point for donated goods as well as a makeshift kennel for dog owners.
For now, it's home for Jerry Reynolds, his wife, Janice, and his brother, Marcus Reynolds.
Janice Reynolds said she drove back to Rainelle on Saturday to survey the damage. She said her home was destroyed, a vehicle was lost in the floodwaters and the community "smelled like death."
Bill Kious of Rainelle was asked how those at the shelter, many of them on modest incomes, were able to stay positive.
"Frankly, because we've lived a rough lifestyle," Kious said. "It's a nature to us that we can't get rid of."
Rick Lewis of the Nuttall Fire Department said 129 people were staying Sunday at the church gymnasium. Many more Rainelle residents were sent to other shelters, he said.
Authorities have yet to start sizing up the flood damage in West Virginia. But it is drawing comparisons to November 1985 floods that remain the state's most expensive natural disaster with more than $570 million in damage.
The 1985 floods left 47 dead in West Virginia, more than half of them in Pendleton and Grant counties. The Potomac River at Paw Paw crested 29 feet above flood stage. More than 3,500 homes, 180 businesses and 43 bridges statewide were destroyed. Twenty-nine counties were declared federal disaster areas.
Information for this article was contributed by Jonathan Mattise of The Associated Press.
A Section on 06/28/2016