With the death toll already at 23, West Virginia authorities were bracing themselves for another potential round of devastating storms late Monday.

Thus far, 20 bodies have been recovered across the rain-drenched state, and three others still reported missing are presumed dead. The reported death toll once stood at 25 before two men who were also reported missing and presumed dead after their camper was swept away amid the heavy rains and high winds were found alive.

"Everybody's just keeping an eye on the sky," said state Emergency Management Agency spokesman Tim Rock.

According to the National Weather Service, more rains and destruction could be headed to the state, particularly in the already hard hit areas of Greenbrier, Kanawha and Nicholas counties.

Meanwhile, dozens of area residents remain confined to a nearby church gymnasium that was hastily converted to a shelter. The Ansted Baptist Church has also become a drop-off point for badly needed goods that have staarted to trickle in through donations.

In all, Nuttall Fire Department spokesperson Rick Lewis estimated that as many as 129 people were residing in the gymnasium and many more have been sent to similar emergency shelters set up across the state.

Though the full extent of the damage caused across the state is still not yet known, authorities are already comparing the depths of it to the floods of 1985, which caused more than $570 million in damage and remains the West Virginia's most expensive natural disaster.

That catastrophe also left 47 people dead and 3,500 homes destroyed. As many as 180 businesses and 43 statewide bridges were also destroyed back then, resulting in 29 neighboring counties being declared as natural disaster areas.

This week officially marks the first day that citizens can formally apply for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Greenbrier, Kanawha and Nicholas counties.

Actions taken by President Obama also allow effected residents to gain aid for housing and home repairs and receive low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.

Virginia's combination of steep mountains and narrow valleys are thought to have played a major role in all the damage the high-wind storms were able to inflict across the area.