Georgian Gov’t finances repairs of 1,300 disaster-affected homes

The Government of Georgia is taking steps to restore the damage and ease the loss caused by the August 20 hailstorm and flooding in the eastern and western parts of the country. 

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili tasked the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Finance to ensure 1,300 damaged houses in eastern Kakheti and western Racha regions would be fully restored.

The Infrastructure Ministry will be responsible for all renovation activities while the Finance Ministry will allocate funds for the necessary work, announced the Prime Minister’s press service.

A special task force has been established to monitor the process and report back to PM Garibashvili.

The storm hit Georgia’s eastern area last Thursday and caused major damage to several villages in Kvareli and Lagodekhi regions as well as in the eastern Pankisi Gorge village Jokolo.

In eastern Kvareli village alone about 550 families were affected by the disaster. The hailstorm destroyed about 1,300ha of Saperavi vineyards and 1,000ha of Rkatsiteli grapes. The loss of these two grape varieties was estimated to reach 891,000 GEL.

Flooding and bad weather damaged households in Racha region as well. 

Furthermore, several roads in the mountainous region were temporarily closed after being damaged and blocked by a landslide but these roads have since reopened, officials said.