One killed by powerful winds ripping off roofs in western Georgia

Strong winds on Sunday have caused a number of problems in the western part of Georgia, from downed power lines to property damage. Photo: Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti local government
Agenda.ge, 24 Apr 2017 - 12:11, Tbilisi,Georgia

One man has been killed after he fell from the roof of his house as he tried to fix damage caused by strong winds in western Georgia.

The incident took place in the town of Ozurgeti in western Georgia’s Guria region yesterday. Local authorities said the man died on the spot.

Two other people were taken to hospital with fractures after the powerful wind threw a tree onto a car in Ozurgeti.

Photo from áƒáƒ–ურგეთის მუნიციპალიტეტის გამგეობა/Facebook

Strong winds on Sunday have caused a number of problems in the western part of Georgia, from downed power lines to property damage. Two regions, Guria and Samegrelo, were severely affected.

In Samegrelo, roofs were ripped off of 12 multi-store buildings and up to 100 private houses, local officials said. Several schools and kindergartens were also partially damaged but the education process has not been suspended this morning. Authorities said the roofs have been "temporarily fixed” before they will be fully repaired in a several days times.

Photo from áƒáƒ–ურგეთის მუნიციპალიტეტის გამგეობა/Facebook

Dozens of homes have been left without roofs in Guria too. Electricity poles and lines were downed leaving hundreds of families without power in both regions. Officials said power supply will be fully restored throughout the day today.

Photo from áƒ¡áƒáƒ›áƒ”გრელო-ზემო სვანეთის მხარე/Facebook

Emergency officers worked all night to remove large trees off roads and yards. Special teams have been set up in both Guria and Samegrelo to calculate the damage caused by the winds and handle the results.

Photo from áƒ¡áƒáƒ›áƒ”გრელო-ზემო სვანეთის მხარე/Facebook

Problems were caused in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi too. Due to strong wind a Tbilisi-Istanbul flight of Turkish Airlines was canceled last night.

A Tel-Aviv-Tbilisi flight landed with a three-hour delay, having to touch down in Yerevan, Armenia first due to harsh weather conditions in Tbilisi. Three other flights, one of the Ukrainian Airways and the others of Pegasus and Fly Dubai experienced minor difficulties before landing in Tbilisi with short delays.

Weather specialists expect strong winds and low temperatures throughout Georgia today as well. They say wind speeds may reach as high as 30 km/h and temperatures will drop to +11°C.

The weather is expected to get warmer tomorrow.