he was a wonderful son and a wonderful brother. >> please, god, guide us. guide us, you know, if he is in the water, which i don't want to think that, just guide us there. >> to where he is. >> guide us to him. you know, for closure. >> reporter: at least 31 people have been killed in the record-breaking flooding in the southeast. 21 of the victims were in tennessee. when the storm system arrived last weekend, nobody expected this. the rains just kept on coming and the rivers overflowed. at its worst, highways disappeared, buildings, too. president obama has declared a disaster area in ten tennessee counties. officials say the cost of this catastrophe now tops over $1 billion in nashville alone. so many homes have been damaged here and so few people have flood insurance. >> a lot of people who didn't have flood insurance, because they never thought the floodwaters would ever come anywhere near their home. they're really looking at a total loss of their home at this point. so it's very, very tough on a lot of people right now.