Hurricane Michael: The toll of victims is growing

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Reuters

The US regions devastated by Hurricane Michael last week continue to factor in the cost of the storm as the number of confirmed deaths increases.

The hurricane was blamed on at least 27 deaths in four US states – a number that is expected to increase further.

A volunteer organization said it was trying to find more than 1,100 people who would have gone missing.

The storm destroyed buildings and razed communities as it ripped through the Florida region.

Most of the missing are believed to be in Panama City and would be elderly, disabled or live alone, said Houston-based CrowdSource Rescue co-founder Matthew Marchetti at the Reuters news agency.

This issue has not been confirmed by regional officials and the Florida Department of Health has created an online form allowing people to report missing friends and loved ones.

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania traveled Monday to the storm-affected region of Florida and Georgia.

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Wednesday morning, more than 150,000 homes and businesses would still be without electricity.

Cases of armed robbery of homes and businesses in some areas have also been reported.

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Jimmy Stanford, a major from the Bay County Sheriff's Office, said the local police had arrested about 10 alleged looters each night since Friday.

What is the last balance sheet?

Confirmed deaths increased on the last day as recovery teams with dogs roamed the damaged areas.

A count of Reuters' official reports indicates that at least 27 people are now dead, including 17 in Florida.

Another death was also confirmed by officials in Georgia, three in North Carolina and six in Virginia.

Florida medical examiners also reportedly evaluated several other deaths to determine if they had been caused by the storm.

Management of missing persons has been made more difficult by damaged mobile phone coverage in many areas.

Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, described the "slow progress" of the network companies as "unacceptable".

After the reviews, Verizon provider announced Tuesday that it would give three months of free service to its affected customers in the area.

How was the storm?

Hurricane Michael was one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the United States and was hit Wednesday by winds blowing at 155 mph (250 km / h).

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He was stranded on the Gulf Coast of Florida and went up the east coast of the United States, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

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Reuters

The state of emergency was declared in Florida and on Sunday a similar statement was made in Georgia.

How is the recovery going?

Many people who fled to shelters further inland after the hurricane hit their homes to assess the damage and sift through their belongings.

The area most affected by the storm, in the Panhandle area of ​​Florida, does not have as stringent building code standards as in other parts of the state.

Parts of homes were completely destroyed in Mexico Beach – a zone known as "zero ground" for high winds and storm surges.

"Unfortunately, there will be more deaths than what people want to admit," said Monday the local state representative, Halsey Beshears.

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Florida Governor Rick Scott has called the area a "war zone" – with homes torn from their foundations, cars set aside and trees broken in half.

Thousands of members of the National Guard were brought across the state to distribute food and water.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said that about 35,000 people in Florida had sought help from the federal government and that more than a million dollars of funding from 12 counties had already been approved.

The agency says it has already provided approximately 4.5 million meals and 5 million liters of water to residents.