RICHMOND, VA. ? Police and fire officials escorted Richmond residents and business owners into their flood-ravaged homes and shops Wednesday, but only to allow them to retrieve pets and essentials such as prescription drugs.

Flooding touched off by the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston on Tuesday left at least seven people dead in Virginia and devastated a historic Richmond district that was the heart of the Confederate capital during the Civil War.

Cleanup and restoration in the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood of restaurants, shops and loft apartments will have to wait a day or so until the buildings are deemed safe, said City Manager Calvin Jamison. He said 19 of 230 buildings inspected by midday were condemned.

The damage was estimated at a preliminary $15 million and is likely to go higher.

Shops and restaurants were a watery, mud-caked mess Wednesday, and cars that had crashed into each other as they washed down streets were mired in mud or overturned.

A small group of employees of Bowen Building Systems came out of the closed area carrying armloads of hand tools from a company van parked in a condemned garage.

We’re trying to salvage anything we possibly can,” said Regina Bowen, company vice president. “It’s horrible in there — a lot of mud.”

The sixth and seventh confirmed victims were found Wednesday, more than a day after the heavy rains ended and floodwaters receded.

Authorities in Dinwiddie County, south of Richmond, found the body of a person who they said was swept away in rushing water while trying to rescue others. No other details were available Wednesday night.

Earlier in the day, a woman’s body was found in a wooded area east of the city, after she apparently was swept away while driving. The other victims included two people who may have been part of a human chain trying to reach people stuck inside a van.

The state reported 120 roads remained closed. Many were still under water. At least six bridges were washed out.

“There may be a few more, but until the water recedes, we’re not going to know,” said Linda South, a Transportation Department spokeswoman. “That’s how bad it is out there.”

A car flipped by floodwaters sits near a damaged building in the Shockoe Bottom area of Richmond, Va. Cleanup in the historic district will have to wait until all of the buildings are inspected for safety.