Hundreds of searchers continued the grueling work Thursday of hunting for survivors and digging up bodies in the sea of mud and wreckage left by flash flooding in this wealthy coastal enclave.
Muck-spattered searchers from around the state slogged through knee-deep ooze, poking long poles into the mud to probe for victims. Search dogs clambered on shattered heaps of wood that used to be homes.
The death toll from Tuesday’s pre-dawn flash flood rose to 17 on Wednesday as more bodies were found. Another 8 were still reported missing.
“It’s just waiting and not knowing, and the more I haven’t heard from them — we have to find them,” said Kelly Weimer, whose elderly parents’ home was wrecked.