Hundreds of houses damaged by storm

The storm also hit Batumi. (Photo: Vako Kavzharadze.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–A storm that hit Georgia’s Black Sea coast has inflicted losses of USD 1.8 million in the Adjara region alone, according to preliminary estimates.

Archil Khabadze, Chairman of the Adjaria government, said at a briefing Saturday that 43 houses had their roofs damaged in Kobuleti. The roofs of nine houses are completely destroyed in the village Khelvachauri and 93 house roofs in Kobuleti and Batumi’s beach line.

According to him, part of the population in Kobuleti have their water and natural gas cut off, while streets close to the beach are flooded.

An emergency headquarter has been set up and is working to measure the extent of the damage and work out what to be done to deal with the situation. The Adjaran cabinet of ministers is at the headquarter now, he said, adding that it won’t be difficult to allocate financial resources in order to repair damaged infrastructure and conduct reinforcement work along the sea front.

Davit Narmania, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development, the same day presented figures for the whole country. He said more than 150 houses and several schools have been damaged in Adjara, while 150 meters of beach is damaged and poorly protected. Street lights are also damaged. Three boats were taken by the water in Ureki.

Four schools and administrative buildings in Ozurgeti, an inland town in western Georgia, are also damaged by the storm, as well as 90 private house roofs.

In Gori, town closer to Tbilisi, roofs of 20 building houses are damaged and more than 60 houses in Tbilisi.

The minister said the losses will be measured in the next few days and be presented to an emergency center set up by the central government headed by Energy Minister Kakhi Kaladze. Also on the group are the finance minister, the regional development minister, the health minister, and representatives of the interior and defense ministries.