Rescuers intensified efforts to find survivors who might be trapped amid the ruins of a small Florida Panhandle community nearly obliterated by Hurricane Michael.
One body has already been recovered there, tempers are flaring, and power could be out for weeks. Crews with dogs went door-to-door in Mexico Beach, pushing aside debris to get inside damaged structures in a second wave of searches following what they described as an initial, "hasty" search.
Authorities say there is little doubt the death toll will rise from the storm, which made landfall last week as a Category four hurricane with 249km/h and heavy storm surge. The tally of lives lost across the South stood at 14.
"Everything is time consuming," said Captain Ignatius Carroll, of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue task force. "You don't want to put a rush on a thorough rescue."
More roads were passable along the storm-ravaged coast as crews cleared downed trees and power lines, but traffic lights remained out and long lines heightened tensions at one of the area's few open service stations.
