State of emergency declared for Gordon County; two deaths reported

Scruggs Road is closed by flooding after Christmas day rainfall brought South Chickamauga Creek to a flood stage of about 26.5 feet on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in East Ridge, Tenn. Major flood stage classification for the creek is 27 feet.
Scruggs Road is closed by flooding after Christmas day rainfall brought South Chickamauga Creek to a flood stage of about 26.5 feet on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in East Ridge, Tenn. Major flood stage classification for the creek is 27 feet.

A local state of emergency for Gordon County has been declared by the board of commissioners, according to the Gordon County Government Facebook page. Treacherous conditions persist on flooded roadways, as well as the risk of additional flooding in the next 72 hours.

More rain was expected Monday evening in the county about 60 miles northwest of Atlanta, forecasters said.

A few thunderstorms could turn severe across north Georgia and parts of west central Georgia, according to the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City. Forecasters said the main threat was damaging winds.

Divers recovered the body of a man whose car was swept away by floodwaters in Gordon County, where roads were inundated from recent storms, authorities said.

Authorities believe the man was driving Saturday afternoon when floodwaters overtook his car, Gordon County Chief Deputy Robert Paris said.

The car was located Sunday, but it wasn't safe for divers to reach it in the swift-moving waters until Monday, Paris said.

"It's very, very treacherous to cross these floodwaters," Paris said. "It's very swift running and the recovery was very dangerous."

Gordon County Deputy Coroner Bo Nicholson identified the man as 64-year-old George Treadaway of Summerville.

Separately, a second body was recovered Monday from Self Lake in the southeast part of the county. Authorities were investigating how that man died, but Maj. Stephen Adams with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Law Enforcement Division said the death didn't appear storm-related.

Nicholson identified the man as 38-year-old Robert John Murray Jr. of Calhoun and said his body was sent to the state crime lab in Atlanta to determine a cause of death.

Murray was using a kayak on the large private pond and didn't appear to be wearing a life jacket, Adams said. Nicholson said the water level on the private pond wasn't dramatically affected by recent heavy rains.

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