On August 3, 2023, the measured life of the Georgian resort of Shovi was disrupted by a natural disaster. A powerful landslide from the mountain slopes hit the village. Tons of mud and rocks buried dozens of houses under them, turning the once picturesque area into a place of disaster. The tragedy took the lives of thirty-three people, leaving a deep wound on the heart of the Georgian people.
How did it happen and is it possible to prevent casualties in the event of a repeat of the disaster? Read in our material.
“This Shovi tragedy was very unexpected. It was a sunny day and no one expected such an event. We are used to freshets, we are used to floods caused by melting glaciers,” – Manana Metreveli, geologist and environmentalist, shares with us.
“Where there was no flood for 100 years in the Shovi and Buba valleys, such a flood occurred and 33 people died, which was the biggest tragedy in the history of Georgia in the 21st century,” – Nino Chkhobadze, environmentalist, chairwoman of the Green Movement of Georgia
The search operations, which began almost immediately after the disaster, turned into a race against time. Rescue workers worked around the clock and searched for survivors in extreme conditions. However, the scale of the devastation and the mountainous landscape made their task much more difficult.
A rescue helicopter was able to take 210 people out of the disaster zone.
Survivors of the Shovi tragedy, whose lives were divided into “before” and “after”, shared their memories.
“Sometimes I feel ashamed that we survived.”
“The sound was deafening. The sound alone could have probably killed someone. I picked my niece up, hugged her tightly, and turned my back to the oncoming flood. The wave hit us and threw us very far away.”
Racha is one of the most seismically active and landslide-prone regions of the country. But, as geologists note, Western Georgia has never experienced natural disasters of this scale. The only exception was the earthquake that occurred in Racha on April 29, 1991 – then one village was completely destroyed.
According to geologists, at this stage the risk of another landslide in the valley is minimal. However, this does not mean that there is no danger, because there are many glaciers in Racha.
Nino Chkhobadze, environmentalist, chairwoman of the Green Movement of Georgia:
“In fact, over the last 10 years we have felt climate change more seriously, and all the signs characterizing climate change have been identified in Georgia already today. These are: melting of glaciers and lowering of water horizons, unstable meteorological conditions, extreme temperatures characteristic of the whole Georgia, especially recently.”
More than two weeks after the tragedy, it became known that the flood was caused by a river overflow. The main question is where did the river get so much water?
The National Environmental Protection Agency released its first report on the incident six days later, saying the tragedy was caused by a coincidence of several geological and hydrometeorological events.
The agency wrote that the rock collapse cut off an approximately 62-hectare glacial massif, causing an outpouring of subglacial water that rushed into the river valley.
The official report on the Shovi tragedy, published in February 2024, has caused a storm of controversy. The National Environment Agency, which was tasked with investigating the disaster, tried to deflect and shift responsibility for the deaths of 33 people.
Central to the controversy was the issue of early warning systems. While the agency argued in its report that such a system would have been ineffective, a report from Geotest AG, a Swiss company, painted a slightly different picture. The researchers emphasized the potential for early detection through monitoring systems to allow for timely evacuation. However, these important findings were missing from the Georgian-language version of the report.
Nino Chkhobadze, environmentalist, chairwoman of the Green Movement of Georgia:
“But what doesn’t Georgia have? Georgia does not have an adaptive action plan, Georgia does not work towards the so-called natural disasters, which unfortunately hit us particularly hard this year. The first manifestation was in 2015 when the Veri Valley flooded in Tbilisi, the second very serious manifestation because of climatic conditions was the tragedy in Shovi, and on top of that there were very severe floods in Guria.”
Authorities say the disaster was instantaneous and could not have been predicted.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, it took about eight to 10 minutes for the flood to reach the cottages. According to experts, that would have been enough time to evacuate people to safety.
The tragedy in Shovi was exacerbated by possible negligence. Despite the high risk of landslides in the region, as evidenced by previous disasters in Kazbegi, the authorities failed to take adequate safety measures.
Nino Chkhobadze, environmentalist, Chairwoman of the Green Movement of Georgia:
“The natural risk monitoring system is currently being actively improved. Particular attention is paid to hazard assessment in the central part of the Caucasus. the Ministries of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources and Agriculture have identified and systematized all high-risk zones.
Unfortunately, the situation remains complex. More than 30 municipalities and 56 settlements are at high risk of natural disasters. An information system is being developed to work with these areas. However, the existing regulation and coordination system needs to be improved.”
Climate change is making it increasingly difficult to predict all possible risks. The number and scale of natural disasters are likely to increase. There is no region left that is completely protected from these threats.
The National Environment Agency in its final report also notes that the best and most effective way to protect people and infrastructure is spatial planning of the territory. Swiss experts write almost the same thing.
Indeed, before the tragedy, up to half a million GEL was allocated from the budget to “ArtStudio Project” LLC to draw up a plan to regulate the development of the Shovi resort. This document included land use planning activities. Oni City Council approved this plan on December 22, 2022, and groups close to the Georgian Dream party received the right to build 18-meter tall hotel buildings right in the “death zone” – the area that was swept away by the mudflow seven months later.
Now, a year after the Shovi tragedy, it is crucial to go beyond official statements and face the truth. The victims and their families deserve answers, and the country must learn from this tragedy to prevent similar disasters in the future.
