Heavy rain and hail hit Kakheti region
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, July 24
Telavi, Gurjaani and Kvareli districts in Kakheti region were hit by heavy rain, hail and strong wind on July 22. The disaster destroyed vineyards and water-melon gardens and damaged dozens of houses and infrastructure.
Strong wind uprooted trees in the village Napareuli leaving Kvareli-Lagodekhi linking highway paralyzed for several hours.
The wind also affected several families in village Sanavardo, leaving their houses without roofs.
In the Akhasheni village of the Gurjaani district, heavy rain flooded ravine, the water drain channels failed to pass the water and it flooded roads, yards houses and basements. Overall, 25 houses were damaged in the village, where pumping works have been carried out. The disaster also blocked the railroad running through the village.
According to the villagers, water channels have not been cleaned for a long time, which caused the flooding in the streets. They asked the local authorities to solve the problem in order to avoid such accidents in the future.
Due to heavy hail the in Kvareli district, dozens of acres of vineyards, water-melon and corn gardens were damaged. The farmers say that the harvest has been completely destroyed. Locals ask the government for help and say that without compensation, they will not be able to pay agricultural credits.
The farmers stressed that the anti-hail system recently installed in the district did not work.
According to the Governor of Kakheti, Irakli Shiolashvili, a special commission will count the damage and the insured harvest will be automatically compensated.
Local authorities and rescue squads arrived at the damaged villages. Home cleaning and restoration works have already started. A
