Recovery efforts in the Southeast United States are continuing as death tolls from last weekend's massive flooding rose to 33.

Record levels of rain swept over the states of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky over the May Day weekend, flooding thousands of homes and businesses.

The Nashville area was hit hardest by the disaster, with floodwaters causing over $1.5 billion in property damage and leaving 23 people dead.

President Obama declared a major disaster in the city and other parts of Tennessee last Tuesday, with the federal government pledging more than $4 million in assistance to residents of the region.

Several church relief agencies are on the ground providing assistance in the recovery effort, including Church World Service (CWS), Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), and Week of Compassion, a Disciples of Christ ministry.

"There are still many houses needing to be mucked out," the Rev. P. Morgan Gordy, LDR site coordinator, told the ELCA News Service. "We look forward to volunteers coming here. We have congregations ready to receive them."

The floods follow a series of devastating tornadoes in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi last week and the week prior which killed 13 people.