US Emergency Workers Search through Debris for Survivors after Ferocious Tornadoes (+Video)

People who had their lives ripped apart in mere moments by violent and unforgiving tornadoes over the weekend are now dealing with a new reality -- seeking the basic needs of food and shelter while surrounded by devastation and uncertainty over the fate of their neighbors.

The death toll from powerful tornadoes that devastated towns in Kentucky is likely to pass 100, the governor says, as hope of finding survivors wanes.

Andy Beshear said this was the most devastating tornado event in the state's history, with at least 80 confirmed deaths.

"Nothing that was standing in the direct line of (one) tornado is still standing," he said.

The line of severe weather that moved through the central and southern US late Friday into Saturday left at least 100 people feared dead. The storms spawned at least 50 tornadoes reported across eight states, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.

In Kentucky, teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are on the ground, Michael Dossett, director of Kentucky Emergency Management said. More than 300 National Guard troops are on duty across nine counties, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.

"The devastation is quite frankly something that you would see in a war zone. This is an event where we had commercial and residence properties literally stripped clean from the earth," Dossett told CNN Sunday.

The list of missing persons in Dawson Springs contains more than 100 names, a Hopkins County emergency official said Sunday, but they are hopeful most of those are people who left town but haven't checked in yet.

While rescue efforts continued Sunday, no survivors were pulled from the rubble, said Nick Bailey, the director of emergency management in Hopkins County.

The town's death toll rose to 13 Sunday, up from 10 Saturday, Hopkins County Coroner Dennis Mayfield said. The fatalities range in age from 34 to 86 and include two elderly sisters who lived together and a husband and wife.

"Right now, our spirits are crushed, but we'll come back," said Mayfield.

Meanwhile, "hundreds and hundreds" in the town of nearly 3,000 no longer have a place to live. "Almost an entire city has been displaced at this point," Bailey said.
Those whose homes are still standing are likely without power and could be in the dark for up to a month, Bailey said.

"You can replace a house, you can replace furniture, you can replace clothes, but you cannot replace memories and pictures," Erica Steip told CNN affiliate WZTV as she picked through what remains of her sister's home in Dawson Springs. "She's alive, and I'm so grateful," Steip said.

The American Red Cross has eight shelters set up in Kentucky and is providing relief to nearly 200 people, the group's Kentucky CEO Steven Cunanan said Sunday.

Several state parks have also been opened to help house families who lost everything, Beshear said in a news conference Sunday afternoon.

"We are taking them in," Beshear said. "We are trying to guarantee everyone a two-week stay, so they're not worried about tomorrow. They can worry about finding their relatives, making sure their kids have enough to eat."

Cunanan said the Red Cross' main goal is to provide food and care to those forced out of their homes by the tornadoes. "We have to help them get their lives back and help them get to a sense of normalcy again."

The emotional toll of having your life upended by a natural disaster is also an important consideration, Cunanan said. "I've seen that on every disaster I've been on. They're shell-shocked. They don't know where to turn."