Flood threats eliminated in Svaneti where glacier partially collapsed
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Danger from a large amount of ice that broke off from the Lekhziri Glacier in Mestia municipality has been eliminated, the Emergency Management Service said last night.
The ice collapsed about 400 meters away from the glacier tongue yesterday and caused a large amount of water in the valley threatening the nearest rivers to flood.
"The level of water has decreased and the adjacent area is not threatened any more,” says the statement released by the service.
The National Environmental Agency says that data taken from the the hydrological station located near the mouth of the river Mulkhura and Mestiachala show that the level of the water in the rivers is within the norm.
However, workers of the â Emergency Management Service are still mobilised at the site of incident in case of any complications.
Lekhziri Glacier is a valley glacier with a length of more than 11 kilometers located on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in Svaneti.
Specialists from the National Environmental Agency suggest that the collapse has been caused by the intense melting of the glacier during summer.
Specialists of the National Environmental Agency have been mobilised to study the situation and find the reason behind the incident.
The Georgian Minister for Refugees Sozar Subari has stated that 21 houses and the local infrastructure have been heavily damaged in the village of Tchuberi in Mestia, on the second day of flooding of the river Nenskra.
In about three years early warning systems will be installed throughout Georgia, enabling the population to receive relevant and timely information in a systematic way prior to disasters in order to make informed decisions and take action.
International experts are working in northern Georgia’s mountainous area to design a landslide warning system that will give notice to the population of an impending natural disaster.
The Georgian government has approved the Natural Disaster Prevention Programme for which 20 million GEL will be allocated from the state budget.
Geologists and employees of Svaneti Hydro, a company which constructed HPPs Mestiachala 1 and Mestiachala 2 in 2018, will study the area hit by severe flood in Mestia, the Georgian region of Svaneti last night. The Mestiachala River overflowed last night, which was followed by severe surges in the ravine where the HPP Mestiachala 1 is located.