Family members have come from miles away to help, and they move about quietly, working hard, saying little.

Four mobile homes washed off their foundations at the end of Sweeneysburg Road bear silent witness to the devastation three elderly women will face when they return after their Sunday morning evacuation.

One woman, who had recently installed new kitchen appliances, will find they have washed away, and that half of the beige trailer she rented is now in the creek that overflowed in minutes, leaving her only enough time to flee for her life.

At Kelly's Korner, the hub of Pax, a small town in Fayette County, owner Vickie Kelly Toney counts her blessings.

"My 11-year-old son, D.J., was crying last night, and he asked me, 'Mommy, how much have we lost?' I told him, money doesn't matter. We have our home on a hill that wasn't damaged. We have our health and we have each other. There are so many people who don't even have a bed to lay on tonight, so when it comes to the business, this means zippo," Toney said.

She is relieved the gas tanks at her BP station were sealed tightly enough to prevent leaks or seepage.

"Beckley Oil checked them this morning, and they said there is not one gallon of water in the gas, and not one gallon of gas that leaked out. I don't know whether the pumps will work or not, but the tanks are fine," she said.

Area residents had smelled what they thought was gasoline, but learned later the odor was coming from overturned home-fuel tanks nearby.

"The smell of kerosene was really strong last night. People couldn't get to their tanks to set them up," Toney said.

Pax Mayor Shirley Roberts tried to assess the damage from reports turned into her office Monday. She also drove through Pax and surrounding counties surveying the damage.

"Pax lost approximately 10 homes plus a church. The first floor of the Long Branch Methodist Church, the organ, the piano, the sanctuary, it's all ruined," she said.

Six homes may be unlivable, and about 17 homes in nearby Weirwood may be beyond repair, Roberts said.

By early afternoon Monday, she had received at least 30 applications for different kinds of help from area residents, and several people were still filling out papers in an adjoining office.

Emergency supplies of food, bottled water and cleaning materials should be available today at the Pax Town Hall.

"We will hand them out as long as they last," she said.

An evacuation shelter has been set up in the gymnasium on the former Pax School grounds. However, few residents took shelter there Sunday night, Roberts said.