Authorities to give update at 8 a.m.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — National Weather Service teams will be in Putnam County Wednesday to survey the damage from the tornado killed at least 18. Several are still missing.

Watch live update at 8 a.m.

Late Tuesday night, 38 people were still unaccounted for. Officials released an up-to-date list Wednesday morning, saying the list is now down to 24.

The following people are still missing:

Rachel Baughman
Katherine Julian
Penny Penelope Cole
Ryan Hunter
Phyllis Burchett
Diana and Robert Smith
Iris Walker
Dwight Gentry
David Phillips
Maureen Langford & Andi Otis
Lisa Burgess
Tommy Knight
Robin & Bethany Babb
Joey Dedemicis
Joe Murphy Jr
Denton Nelson
Douglas Loftis
Rick Stegill
Ryan Packinghan
Kathy Koch
Joe Yoder
Pat Lane

If you are searching for a loved one, call the county help line at 931-646-4630. If you’d like to volunteer email officials at [email protected].

The Putnam County Sheriff said the tornado touched around 2 a.m. between the city limits of Cookeville and Baxter and destroyed everything in its path – leaving parts of the county filled rubble and debris, making it harder to find people.

The sheriff’s office says they’ve searched about 60% of the area and they’ve been checking places all night that were in the tornado’s path.

The clean-up efforts are going to take quite some time. Fifteen law enforcement agencies are teaming up to help out for the next few days. They are hoping to have all demolished structures checked-out by the end of the day.

Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris says there’s a lot of damage there and there’s a possibility they could find some people their looking for when they launch a very specific search this morning.

“An approximately 20-acre field that is located between Echo Valley Estates and North McBroom Chapel Road. That area is a field area that is marshy, that is 6 or 7 feet tall. It’s a slow process. The way the tornado traveled, there’s a lot of debris down there,” said Sheriff Farris.

The worst hit areas are: