Two boys aged four and eight are among those swept to their deaths in the deluge, which has seen hundreds rescued.
At least 23 people have died in West Virginia's worst flooding in more than a century, officials have said.
The deaths included two boys aged four and eight who were swept away in rushing creek waters in different counties.
The state has declared an emergency and hundreds of people were rescued after they were forced to evacuate swamped homes.
The storms have left around 66,000 people without power.
Many rivers have risen to dangerous heights, including the Elk River, which reached 32ft, the highest since 1888.
Tim Rock, spokesman for the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said: "There have been towns that have been completely surrounded by water.
"People say there is eight to nine feet of water in their house. It's at least into the hundreds forced to get emergency shelter."
One householder, Belinda Scott, fled to her attic with her pets as her property filled with water. She smelled natural gas.
The White Sulphur Springs house blew up and she was left hanging on to a tree next to the burning wreck of her home.
Her husband, Ronnie Scott, said: "My wife was out there four and a half hours hanging in a tree with a house burning right beside her, flood waters running all around her."
About 500 people were stranded overnight in a shopping centre when a bridge washed out.
Some 200 National Guardsmen are helping in eight counties, helping local rescue crews.
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin's communications director said some areas had been "devastated".
The hardest hit counties included Greenbrier, Nicholas, Fayette, Kanawha and Webster.
The mountainous state was drenched by up to 10in of rain on Thursday, causing rivers and streams to overflow.
It amounted to a quarter of West Virginia's annual rainfall in a single day.
Roads in several counties were closed due to flooding or because of damage caused by water.
It comes after eight tornadoes damaged rural communities in northern Illinois on Wednesday.
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