Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

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Nino Tandilashvili: Satellite data supports the consideration that there was no damming of water mass in the valley before the disaster

The First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mrs. Nino Tandilashvili, provided media representatives with the satellite data analysis regarding the Shovi natural disaster.

According to the First Deputy Minister, the presented materials once again confirm the information given in the initial report of the National Environmental Agency.

The satellite data we received from international partners and relevant institutions of the United Nations are presented. These data support the consideration that there was no damming of water mass in the valley before the disaster. Neither before the disaster nor during the disaster was there a decrease in the water level.

Our specialists indicated that we received information from the water level measurement station that showed no drop in the water level.
It was an instantaneous collapse of a rock mass; a half-million cubic mass collided with a glacial mass, causing a breakthrough and bringing it down to the Shovi resort in no time. When we discuss the development of such a natural event, we deal with complex processes. Several events coincided, and in the end, we got the scale of the disaster we saw together," said Nino Tandilashvili.

The First Deputy Minister also addressed the adoption of early warning systems in the country.
"The development of early warning systems includes installing relevant stations and devices that allow our forecasters and relevant specialists to predict the weather and expected natural processes early. Several stations of this type were located throughout the country.

Today there are 200 stations, and 100 more stations are being installed. When we talk about the development of a disaster of such a scale, the development of a complex disaster, in our specialists' opinion, it is practically impossible to predict a disaster of a similar scale in advance. 
Before meeting with media representatives, Nino Tandilashvili met with the agency's specialists, experts, and representatives from non-governmental organizations at the National Environmental  Agency to discuss the material analyzed using satellite data concerning the Shovi disaster.