TBILISI, July 24 – A mudflow hit two villages in southern Georgia’s Adigeni municipality after heavy rain and hail in the mountains, flooding two homes and damaging a car, local officials said Friday.
The incident happened in the villages of Gomaro and Shoka. Adigeni Mayor Gocha Kimadze told Interpressnews that Shoka escaped without damage, while Gomaro was hit harder.
Kimadze said two houses were flooded in Gomaro. One of the houses had already received compensation earlier, and no one was living there, although household items still had to be removed. The second house was less badly damaged, but water entered the building and a car in the yard was damaged. No injuries were reported.
The mayor said rescuers pumped water out of the affected house and heavy machinery worked through the night to clear the road. Work resumed at 07:00 on Friday morning, and traffic has now been restored.
“There is no problem at this stage,” Kimadze said, adding that geologists were expected in the village to assess the situation.
He said the incident was not a landslide, but a mudflow caused by heavy mountain rain and hail on Thursday. A commission will later assess the financial cost of the damage.
The opposition coalition Strong Georgia-Lelo reacted later Friday, accusing the authorities of leaving residents alone in the face of natural disasters. The party said locals had been waiting for a geological report for a year to determine whether it is safe to live in the area.
Strong Georgia-Lelo said its general secretary Irakli Kupradze and party colleagues visited Gomaro on Friday to review the situation. The coalition said residents need timely decisions, preventive measures and a clear answer about whether their homes are safe.
The government’s local account and the opposition response differ in tone. The mayor said the road is open, no one was hurt and geologists are on the way. Lelo says the larger problem is delayed prevention and unanswered safety concerns.
