Searchers find body of Ga. man swept away by storm

ATLANTA - Searchers found the body Tuesday of a man who was swept into a fast-moving creek as Tropical Storm Lee pummeled Georgia, while authorities across the state continued cleaning roads and investigating suspected tornado damage to roughly 100 homes in Cherokee County.<br /> <br /> The missing man, whose name authorities did not immediately release, was swept away Monday night while trying to cross a creek near a dam in Norcross. The search for the man, who was about 25 years old, was called off overnight because of darkness.<br /> <br /> One of the man's relatives who was searching the bed of the creek Tuesday morning ahead of a team of firefighters saw the victim's body near a DeKalb County apartment complex, Gwinnett County Fire Department Capt. Tommy Rutledge said. A resident of the apartment complex also separately spotted the victim around the same time. The local medical examiner planned Tuesday to formally identify the remains and notify the missing man's next of kin.<br /> <br /> "It's just a very unfortunate situation, but we're glad the family has some closure that the individual was located," Rutledge said.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, local authorities and meteorologists from the National Weather Service were surveying destruction caused by suspected tornadoes that damaged around 100 homes in Cherokee County. One person there received minor injuries from flying debris. While the county's main roads were open Tuesday, authorities said some secondary roads were likely blocked by debris.<br /> <br /> "Fortunately today we're dealing with a lot of property damage, but not loss of life or severe injuries," said Lt. Jay Baker, a spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.<br /> <br /> The storm system inflicted damage across the state. It toppled trees and knocked out power lines from Catoosa County in northwest Georgia all the way to Liberty County near the Atlantic Coast. Georgia Power reported Tuesday morning that 8,400 customers were without power statewide, primarily in the state's northwest corner.<br /> <br /> Officials at Fort Stewart said a lightning strike sent about 22 soldiers to the hospital on Monday, with at least three kept overnight. Fort Stewart spokesman Pat Young said the soldiers were on the post's Donovan Field in a large, mobile tent that may have taken a direct lightning strike.<br /> <br /> He said there were no initial reports of burns, and 18 of the soldiers were released back to active duty Monday evening.<br /> <br /> Heavy rains flooded an apartment complex in Fort Oglethorpe in northwest Georgia, and 33 people were rescued by boat, Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokesman Ken Davis said. He said the American Red Cross had set up a shelter in Rossville.

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