Rescue officials losing hope in Florida as search efforts continue
The hunt for missing people in the aftermath of Michael is turning into a search for the dead Sunday.
Hope that more people will be found alive is fading in the Florida Panhandle, according to U.S. officials. Authorities say there is little doubt the death toll will rise.
"We're going into recovery mode, unfortunately," said fire Chief Alex Baird of Panama City, one of the coastal Florida communities clobbered by the hurricane that made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, packing more than 225 km/h winds and deadly storm surges. "We hope that we'll find more [survivors], but it's more and more doubtful."
The death toll of the storm reached at least 18 Saturday night and is expected to rise in the U.S. Southeast as rescuers go door-to-door in coastal communities in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to visit both Florida and Georgia early this week to inspect the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Michael.
He will be accompanied by first lady Melania Trump. The White House isn't identifying areas the president will visit.
Rescuers hampered by power outages
Search and rescue volunteers have already located hundreds of people reported missing last week. On Saturday, rescue crews heard cries for help and crowbarred into a mobile home crumpled by the storm in Panama City, freeing a mother and daughter, both diabetics who had been trapped in a closet without insulin for two days and were on the verge of diabetic shock, rescuers said.
A lack of food and water is among the most pressing issues for people reeling from the storm, said one volunteer who had been working in the Panama City area. Rescue teams, hampered by power and telephone outages, used cadaver dogs, drones and heavy equipment to search for people in the rubble.
The White House said late Saturday that Trump was fully committed to helping state and local agencies with the recovery.
At a campaign rally Saturday in Kentucky, Trump praised individuals involved in the massive recovery effort and pledged that "we will not rest until the job is done."
More than 1,700 search-and-rescue workers have been deployed, including seven swift-water rescue teams and nearly 300 ambulances, Florida Gov. Rick Scott's office said. Electricity and phone service were being slowly restored, but it could be weeks before power is restored to the most damaged areas.
Trump toured parts of the Carolinas last month after Hurricane Florence.
With files from The Associated Press
