Heavy rain hits Kakheti region of Georgia
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Heavy rain and hail has damaged vineyards and other agricultural lands in Georgia’s main wine-making region of Kakheti.
The village of Giorgitsminda in Sagarejo region and its surrounding areas suffered most from today’s sudden storm that lasted no more than 20 minutes.
The special hail protection facilities have saved the population from even greater damage.
Governor of Kakheti Irakli Kadagishvili said the country’s Military Scientific-Technical Centre DELTA launched 30 anti-hail rockets into clouds to resist the hail.
DELTA designed the revolutionary anti-hail system in 2015. Photo by the PM's press office
The anti-hail system installed on Chorota Mountain in Kakheti worked by launching an unguided 60mm rocket into the air, which would disperse a reagent into the air to reduce hail from forming in the clouds.
When the rocket reached the appropriate height, the silver iodine reagent will be dispersed at an altitude of 2.5-4.5 km above ground for 30-35 seconds.
Governor Kadagishvili said the anti-hail system is currently working in the municipalities of Akhmeta, Gurjaani and Telavi where the hail has been forecast. He said "almost every third day we have to deal with the hail”.
The total amount of damage is not yet clear as the monitoring groups of the local municipality are still counting the damage.
Heavy rain also reached some districts of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
Georgian emergency service 112 said the rain entered the ground floors of the residential buildings in the districts of Gldani and Tsereteli. However, the sky has cleared now and the roads are being cleaned for traffic.
Recent bad weather has badly affected several regions of Georgia so that the experts are now evaluating the damage caused by the intensive downpour and precise figures will be known shortly.
Over 100 anti-hail rockets were launched into the sky above Georgia’s winemaking region to prevent hail and reduce the effects of a major storm that threatened grapes and other crops.
The Georgian Government is taking measures to assist people affected by the heavy rain in the western parts of Georgia.
Streets and homes in Georgia's Black Sea coastal town Batumi in the west are flooded following hours of heavy rain since early this morning.
June is yet again proving to be a difficult month for Georgia in terms of weather. Heavy rainfall over the past two days has caused major infrastructural problems in the Samegreo-Zemo Svaneti region in the western part of Georgia.
June is yet again proving to be a difficult month for Georgia in terms of weather. Heavy rainfall over the past several days has caused major infrastructural problems in the Samegrelo region in the western part of Georgia.