Tbilisi flood-affected families offered full compensation

One month after hundreds of people lost their homes in the deadly Tbilisi flood, victims are beginning to receive compensation for their loss.

After the severe flood hit Tbilisi, 400 people from 80 families were deemed to be victims of the flood and many of these were forced to leave their homes. The Georgian Government stated the process had now begun to compensate these victims of the natural disaster.

The total cost of damage to Tbilisi, including the cost of relocating Tbilisi Zoo, is understood to reach 200 million GEL, of which 70 million GEL worth of damage was inflicted on local infrastructure and victims.

Sufficient money had been donated to the flood-affected families, so these victims will receive compensation however more donations are needed to cover infrastructure rehabilitation costs.

If you are willing to donate to help Tbilisi recover from the flood, your donation is much appreciated.

Since the flood a total of 24,550,076 million GEL has been donated to a special account opened by the Government of Georgia where people in Georgia and around the globe can donate to the Tbilisi flood relief fund.

Meanwhile, the Cartu Charity Foundation - a charity fund established and financed by ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili – helped fill the Tbilisi flood relief funding gap with an eight million GEL donation.

Eighteen million GEL was needed to resettle the flood-affected families, of which 10 million GEL was donated by society and the private sector while eight million GEL was gifted by Cartu.

The flood victims will be able to choose from two options how they prefer to be compensated.

The first option is to receive an amount based on the number of people in their family, while the second option is for the state to assess their home and compensate the family based on market value of their assets. The victims have also been offered an additional assistance grant for necessity daily items.

As of today seven families (totalling 37 people) applied to Tbilisi City Hall to receive the assistance, said Tbilisi vice Mayor Dimitri Kumsishvili.

The flood-affected families who lost their homes in the flood have been temporarily placed in the hotels and houses. These families were provided with immediate aid, such as food, first aid, medicine and children's products.

Today Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili thanked everyone who donated to the flood relief fund. The PM’s special thank you was addressed to Georgian billionaire tycoon Ivanishvili, who donated 10 million GEL.

The Patriarchate of Georgia was among the donors - he supported the flood-affected families with a 100,000 GEL donation.

The Presidential Reserve Fund allocated 200,000 GEL and the Governmental Reserve Fund allocated 150,000 GEL to the relief fund.

The Government of Georgia opened several special accounts at the State Treasury so people in Georgia and abroad can donate to the Tbilisi flood relief fund in local and foreign currencies.

One bank account was established for donations in US dollar while a second was set up for donations in Euro. Other accounts were established for donations in Lari, the national currency of Georgia.

A separate account has also opened at the State Treasury for transferring money to the Municipal Budget of Tbilisi.

If you wish to donate to the Tbilisi flood relief fund, you can find full details of the donation accounts here.