Rescue crews are desperately searching for dozens of missing people after floodwaters ripped through an Arkansas campground.
Authorities have raised the death toll to 18, and fear it could go much higher. The last survivor was found Friday morning.
At least six children are among those dead and missing along the banks of the Caddo and Little Missouri Rivers, an area favoured by campers in the southern United States.
Relatives helping in the search for their loved ones attempted to remain positive Saturday, but the grim reality is now taking hold, said Graig Cowart, a local pastor.
"They're just devastated. The time for shock has probably gone and now it's just anxiety building. They're beginning to fear the worst," he told The Associated Press.
Heavy rains flooded the river basin, forcing a large volume of water through the Albert Pike Recreation Area -- a steep valley within the Quachita National Forest.
Rescuers say the search for the missing could take days, even weeks.
"This is not a one or two-day thing," said Gary Fox, a retired medical technician who was helping with the search.
"This is going to be a week or two- or three-week recovery."
The search was hampered by the loss of records at the 54-unit campground, making it difficult to determine exactly how many people had been washed away in the floods.
Gov. Mike Beebe's office released a list of about two dozen people still missing. But a call centre set up for people to report missing loved ones received inquires for 73 people on Friday.
State police said Saturday that 22 people were still missing.
"We haven't confirmed if they were at the campsite, but people have called because they believe a loved one may have been there and they can't locate them," said Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Chad Stover.
It's believed that the flooding happened extremely fast, with water rising about 2.5 metres per hour. The violent force of the water ripped bark from trees, and knocked over mobile homes.
"It's like a nightmare that someone's wanting to wake up from, but you can't," Maj. Harvey Johnson, with the Salvation Army, told The Associated Press "It's the deer caught in the headlights look."
