Three days after a deadly mudslide took the lives of at least 14 people in the northwestern Washington town of Oso, family members and neighbors will band together again Tuesday to comb through the wreckage any way they can in hopes of finding survivors. But emergency workers fear they'll find nothing but bad news among the disaster.

"We're expecting that number to go up throughout the day," Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said Tuesday, referring to the death toll.

Snohomish County Emergency Management announced Monday that the number of missing or unaccounted for had reached 176. But SCEM Director John Pennington told the media that authorities are almost certain the list includes many duplicate names.

"The 176, I believe very strongly is not a number we're going to see in fatalities. I believe it's going to drop dramatically," he said.

Officials said the debris flow was likely brought on by heavy rain which made the ground unstable. With 7.71 inches of rain already recorded for the month in Seattle, weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman said the area is less than an inch from setting a new March record for rainfall.

"More rain is in the forecast. While none of them will particularly strong or wet, four separate systems will bring rain to the Pacific Northwest over the next seven days," said Erdman. "Over two inches of total rain may fall over the next seven days from the four systems, combined."

“It's safe to say I'll know everyone affected or who they are. There's so much pain going on in the community right now.”

Gail Moffett, retired firefighter

The number of those possibly missing grew dramatically from an estimated 108 earlier Monday. But Pennington said the list was compiled from information provided by the public, and officials were trying to cross off reports that likely described the same person. The list included construction workers who were working in the area and people just driving by.

The lack of definitive information two days after the massive slide destroyed a cluster of homes at the bottom of a river valley ratcheted up anxieties.

"The situation is very grim," Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said, stressing that authorities are still in rescue mode and are holding out hope. But he noted: "We have not found anyone alive on this pile since Saturday."

http://www.weather.com/tv/tvshows/americas-morning-headquarters/massive-mudslide-washington-community-20140323