“Practically impossible” to predict development of “such complex” natural disaster - Deputy Environment Minister on Shovi landslide

Nino Tandilashvili, the Deputy Environment Minister, on Wednesday said it was “practically impossible” to forecast the development of “such a complex” natural disaster - a landslide that hit the resort of Shovi in the western Georgian region of Racha on August 3.

At the press briefing, Tandilashvili stressed that the data analysis obtained from the water level measuring station and high-quality satellite images taken on August 3 before the landslide confirmed the findings in the initial report of the National Environment Agency that said there had been "no signs of water accumulation” before the disaster.

She also rejected misinformation as if the National Environmental Agency did not have an “early warning system” and explained that the Agency “has been obtaining data” from radars, meteorological and water level measuring stations, as well as from ground observations, through which the Agency “has been making early warnings and forecasting”, “that is an early warning system”.

• Environment Minister: satellite images confirm "no development of any type of natural processes" before disaster in Shovi

Tandilashvili emphasised that the data of the monitoring systems, installed in the disaster area, as well as the radar systems, showed “no development of natural processes”, which could lead to a natural disaster of “such scale”.

Preliminary findings published by the National Environmental Agency this week said the disaster in Shovi, which killed at least 21, was unpredictable and caused by the intense melting of glaciers, the collapse of rock formations in their headwaters, heavy rains, erosive processes and glacier runoff. 

The report said heavy debris, gaining in mass and force, must have reached and covered the resort site, the "Cottage District, in about eight to 10 minutes.