Originally Posted by wrp96

I think this is definitely part of it. Remember that communication like cell phones aren't available at the moment and a lot of people fled with what they literally had in their hands, so there will be people on the lists that are alive just haven't contacted anyone, double counted, etc. Sadly that doesn't mean the numbers aren't going to be terrible (even one loss of life is horrible), it just means until they actually have numbers they are being cautious. I know that when the tornado hit where I live a few months ago, if the initial reports based on what people saw, reported, etc had been correct the death toll would've been over 50 people, but in the end it was only 2 people.