Death toll rises to 25 in eastern Kentucky flooding

July 30 (UPI) -- At least 25 people, including six children, have been confirmed dead as of Saturday after widespread flooding devastated a series of communities in eastern Kentucky.

Rising waters inundated homes and roads since heavy rain began castigating the area on Thursday, dropping more than 10 inches in 24 hours.

The death toll, which is not final, went up by nine people overnight.

"There could be more -- we just don't know," Coroner Hargis Epperson, of Breathitt County, told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "There's areas that we still can't access.'

Epperson said three bodies had been recovered Friday, bringing the death toll to 25.

Of the six dead children, four were siblings.

A relative, Brittany Trejo, recounted the tragic story of Amber Smith and Riley Noble, of Montgomery, to the Herald-Leader.

"They got on the roof and the entire underneath washed out with them and the children," Brittany Trejo said of her cousins Maddison, 8, Riley Jr., 6, Nevaeh, 4, and Chance, 1.

"They managed to get to a tree and ... held the children a few hours before a big tide came and washed them all away at the same time," Trejo added. "The mother and father were stranded in the tree for eight hours before anyone got there to help."

Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday confirmed that authorities had recovered the bodies of the four young siblings.

At least a dozen people were reported missing, authorities said.

"Whole roads washed out -- we still can't get to a lot of people," Beshear told CNN. "There is so much water. The current is so strong."