TENNESSEE: At least 22 people were killed, and rescue crews searched desperately amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee.

Saturday’s flooding in rural areas took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving families uncertain about whether their loved ones survived the unprecedented deluge.

Emergency workers were searching door to door, said Kristi Brown, a coordinator for the health and safety supervisor with Humphreys County Schools.

Many of the missing live in the neighborhoods where the water rose the fastest, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said.

Their names were on a board in the county’s emergency center and listed on a city department’s Facebook page.

The dead included twin toddlers who were swept from their father’s arms, according to surviving family members.

The sheriff of the county of about 18,000 people some 96 kilometers (60 miles) west of Nashville said he lost one of his best friends.

Up to 43 centimeters (17 inches) of rain fell in Humphreys County in less than 24 hours Saturday, appearing to shatter the Tennessee record for one-day rainfall by more than 8 centimeters (3 inches), the National Weather Service said.

(VOA/AP)