The official death toll remains at 16 after the Washington mudslide, but officials say the death toll is expected to rise significantly over the next day or two.

Snohomish District County Fire Chief Travis Hots said Thursday that authorities will not count fatalities until the recovered bodies are examined by the medical examiner’s office.

Hots said there are more than 200 people working on the rescue effort now and that they will exhaust all resources before giving up.

“If we just find one more person that’s alive, it’s worth it,” he said.

Crews and volunteers are working in difficult conditions, especially since rain has set in.

“You can’t fathom what we’re going up against out there,” Hots said. “You have to get out there to see it and fully understand it.”

Hots described “clay balls the size of ambulances” rolling through the area, which was devastated by the March 22 mudslide. He said machinery can’t always be on the scene because there’s a risk of it disappearing in the muck.

Many volunteers have loved ones buried in the rubble. Hots said they have been digging tirelessly to recover anyone they can find and when a body is discovered, “things get really somber out there. You see seasoned veterans … tear up.”

KUOW’s Phyllis Fletcher talked to one volunteer, Bob DeYoung, who is a logger and policeman. He’s found three people he knows, including a child, Fletcher reported.

Offers to help have poured in from around the country, but officials said that no further volunteers are needed right now.

On the Web

Snohomish County: SR 530 crews keeping an eye on rainy weather today

Snohomish County: Information for Darrington Residents

This story originally appeared on Oregon Public Broadcasting.