UPDATE 3-Restored phone service helps rescuers find missing after Florida hurricane

Rescue workers and volunteers searched on Tuesday for scores of people still unaccounted for in the Florida Panhandle as residents rejoiced at restored phone services and portable toilets after Hurricane Michael devastated the area last week.

At least 19 deaths in four states have been blamed on Michael which made landfall on Wednesday as one of the most powerful storms on record to hit the continental United States.

Teams from the volunteer rescue organization CrowdSource Rescue were steadily making contact with people flagged by friends and relatives in the disaster zone in the Panhandle, according to Matthew Marchetti, co-founder of the Houston-based group. Volunteers still had not reached more than 1,135 people volunteers on Tuesday morning, down from about 1,300 the day before and over 2,100 at one point.

As cell phone service returned, the number of people unaccounted for in Mexico Beach, one of the hardest-hit towns, dropped to three, Rex Putnal, a city councillor, said in a telephone interview. A day earlier, it was more than 30.

"Hopefully, they left and we'll find them safe somewhere," he said, before heading to a clean-up effort where workers awaited the arrival of some overdue portable toilets.

"This type of living wears on you," Putnal said. "This is about my fifth day and I'm just not used to washing clothes in a tub with no washer and dryer and eating only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."

The mayor of the town of about 1,200 residents, which took a direct hit from the hurricane, said a second person, a woman, was found dead on Monday afternoon.

Rescue workers had already searched most Mexico Beach homes for survivors and were using dogs to find any bodies that might be buried under the debris.

More than 200,000 people remained without power in the U.S. Southeast, with residents of battered coastal towns such as Port St. Joe, Florida forced to cook on fires and barbecue grills.

At least 80 per cent of customers in three mainly rural Panhandle counties were without electricity on Tuesday. Officials said it could be weeks before power returns to the areas that sustained the most damage.

CAMPING IN TENTS

Countless residents in the region's backcountry have struggled for days without electricity, running water or sanitation, awaiting help from authorities. Some have been camping in tents with the belongings they were able to salvage.

"I'm staying out here to try to keep away looters, to try to save what I can save," said Bernard Sutton, a 64-year-old cancer patient, who has been living out of a tent and broken-down minivan.

"This is everything we own right here," he said, standing over a heap of clothes, books, furniture and other belongings.

Downed trees across highways and dirt roads hampered access to those stranded by the storm.

"Everyone needs help," said Gabriel Schaw, 40, gesturing to a handful of neighbours surrounding his own demolished mobile home in Fountain, Florida. "We're devastated out here. We're wiped off the map."

The state government is distributing ice, water and about 3 million ready-to-eat meals, according to Governor Rick Scott's office.

Water supply was restored to some residents in Panama City on Monday but Bay County officials said it was not yet safe to drink.

Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle Wednesday with top sustained winds of 155 miles per hour (250 km per hour). The winds and storm surge caused $6 billion to $10 billion in insured losses, risk modeller AIR Worldwide said. Those figures exclude uninsured property or losses paid out by the National Flood Insurance Program, AIR Worldwide said.

U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited the storm-affected areas on Monday, arriving by helicopter from Eglin Air Force Base about 100 miles (160 km) to the west.

They distributed bottles of water at an aid centre in Lynn Haven, a city of about 18,500 people near Panama City in northwestern Florida.

"To see this person is very tough - total devastation," said Trump, who later travelled to neighbouring Georgia to see storm damage there.