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Georgia: Floods - Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) DREF Operation n° MDRGE012

Countries
Georgia
Sources
IFRC
Publication date
Origin
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A. Situation analysis

Description of the disaster

On 12 May 2019, heavy rain and hail affected Kakheti Region of Georgia, mainly Lagodekhi, Akhmeta, Telavi and Dedoplistskaro municipalities. As a result of the heavy rain (125 mm), yards, entrances, basements and first floors of many houses and buildings were flooded.

Furthermore, infrastructure, such as roads and bridges connecting the villages, riverbank protections, as well as agricultural lands and fruit trees have been destroyed.

The Emergency Management Service and all relevant ministries are involved in the liquidation works of the flooding of the rivers in the affected villages.

In total 1,272 families (5,088 people) have been affected by the disaster in Kakheti Region. The overall population of the affected municipalities is approximately 147,800 with the breakdown per community as follows:

• Dedoplistskaro Municipality – in total 20,900 people,

• Telavi Municipality 56,000 people,

• Lagodekhi Municipality 41,300 people,

• Akhmeta 29,600 people.

In general, in the targeted municipalities 25 per cent are youth (below 20) and 21 per cent are elderly (above 60). The main income/livelihood of the households is agriculture (harvest, wineyards) which has been seriously damaged by the disaster. Given the upcoming harvest season in the summer period, the damage occured in the crops is foreseen to bring a heavy impact on the quantity and quality of the crops and as such on the livelihood of the affected people. The scale of the damage catagories of the houses has not yet been assessed by the government, therefore no statistical data is available yet. The relevant authorities are working on rehabilitation of the roads and bridges affected by the disaster; therefore all affected communities are accessible. No injuries were recorded, and local people have access to health services. No people have been evacuated. Since the onset of the disaster food or water support has not been provided to the affected people. Around 40 per cent of the population remained without drinking water and electricity for one day. Electricity lines are now repaired as well as the water supply, though the water is still not recommended for consumption (based on the information of the local government).

Summary of the current response

The Georgia Red Cross Society (GRCS) Disaster Management (DM) Department has deployed 50 GRCS volunteers in the affected areas (Kakheti Region: Telavi, Akhmeta, Lagodekhi and Dedoplistskaro municipalities) to conduct a rapid assessment of the situation. In addition, 100 volunteers have been mobilized, who are on standby in case of need for extended support in the affected area.

GRCS Akhmeta, Telavi, Dedoplistskaro and Lagodekhi branches have 75 (25 each) trained volunteers in Disaster Management, First Aid, PSS, and needs assessment; all of them are mobilized and have a permanent communication with relevant structures and local population to support them in case of need. They have been engaged in cleaning the territories after the flooding and also provided PSS to more than 200 affected persons in the affected communities. As mentioned above, volunteers also conducted needs assessment in coordination with the local authorities. If DREF will be approved, it’s planned to mobilize more volunteers, appr. 150 ones for packaging, distribution and post-monitoring evaluation of the action in four municipalities.

The GRCS staff and volunteers are mobilized and are ready to further support the affected population and relevant structures if needed. At the same time, volunteers in the field are assessing the situation and sending reports to the HQ. The volunteers will be actively involved in the humanitarian aid distribution process, and any other activities they are trained in based on the needs.