Vere River stabilised after Tbilisi’s deadly flood

Stage one of reinforcing works along the edge of the Vere River have been completed to give strength and integrity to the riverbed, which burst its banks in the deadly flash flood on June 13 last year.

The work comes about 18 months after the flash flood, which left 21 people dead, two still missing and city infrastructure heavily damaged. 

Today Tbilisi City Hall announced the first stage of reforming and strengthening the riverbed, which runs though central Tbilisi, had been completed. 

City Hall said a dam had been installed on the riverbank with a concrete protective cover to ensure the integrity of the riverbed and sections of the river had also been widened.  

• See Agenda.ge multimedia project about June 13 flood in Tbilisi. 

The dam was built on Tchabua Amirejibi Ave. 

Vere River was widened at Mziuri Park in central Tbilisi. Photo by Tbilisi Mayor's press office. 

One area where the river had been widened was at Mziuri Park in central Tbilisi, where an iron-concrete wall was erected along the riverbank and 500mm pipes were installed to ensure water free inflow and outflow. 

The formation of Vere riverbed is very important from a security point of view. Projects in the Vere Gorge will continue and the formation and strengthening of the riverbed will take place at different areas,” announced Tbilisi Mayor David Narmania. 

For this first stage of works, Tbilisi City Hall  allocated about $628,000 to strengthen the Vere riverbed. 

Tbilisi Mayor David Narmania (C) said works to ensure safety in the Vere Gorge would continue. Photo by Tbilisi Mayor's press office. 

Key facts about the June 13, 2015 flood: 

• Twenty-one people lost their lives in the flood on the evening of June 13, 2015. The bodies of two victims have not been found.
• More than 800 people from up to 200 families lost their homes or businesses in the natural disaster.
• Tbilisi Zoo lost almost half of its animal population when flood waters swamped the Zoo in the late hours of June 13.
• The disaster damaged homes, businesses and other infrastructure on more than 20 streets in central Tbilisi.
• On a wider scale, the World Bank evaluation estimated the flood caused more than 100 million GEL worth of damage on Tbilisi infrastructure.