Georgia mourns victims of Tbilisi flood

Georgia is mourning the loss of a dozen people who died in a major flash flood in capital city Tbilisi on Saturday night.

Churches around Georgia rang their bells at 12pm as part of the national day of mourning to honour the victims of the Tbilisi flood.

In memory of the 12 people who lost their lives, flags were flown at half-mast at Governmental buildings, including the Presidential Palace.

June 15 was declared as a non-work day in Tbilisi upon the decision of the Government.

However, services vital to the recovery efforts, the Emergency Headquarters, the Interior Ministry, Ministry of Health, Finance Ministry, Tbilisi City Hall and its services, the National Bank and other commercial banks will remain operating today.

The Government said its decision to cancel the work day aimed to conduct the disaster relief efforts and reduce traffic in the capital.

Officials said the 12 victims have been identified. However unofficial sources claimed more people had died during and immediately after the disaster.

The number of missing people has been reduced from 24 to 10, after 14 people returned home either last night or this morning. Rescuers are continuing to search for the missing 10 people.

At this stage 16 people are in Tbilisi hospitals and 300 are now facing homelessness as a result of the heavy rainfall in the capital.

Yesterday Georgia’s Prime Minister said every family who lost a loved one will receive 10,000 GEL (about 4,500 USD) from the Government.

The Georgian Government has already allocated 10 million GEL to Tbilisi City Hall to combat the damage caused by the major flooding.

Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri yesterday said a preliminary estimate put damages at 40 million GEL (about $18 million USD).

Tbilisi residents and people from nearby cities have started to bring food, warm clothes and other vital items to municipal centres to help those whose houses were completely swept away by the swollen Vere river.