Assessment of the catastrophic events originated in the river Vere basin Tbilisi, Georgia Presenter: Irakli Megrelidze Deputy Head of Hydrometeorological Department (National Environmental Agency) Hydrology Forum, 20-23 September 2016, Oslo, Norway
25 The Amount of Floods/Flash-Floods for 1950-2015 in Georgia 20 15 10 5 0 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Year amount of occurrence
The regular meteorological observations in Georgia started since 1844 and it has more than 160 years history. Tbilisi meteorological station was established in 1837 year and correspondingly Batumi - 1881 year, Poti Port - 1894 year. By the year of 1916 about 90 meteorological stations and posts were functioning and before the World War II their number reached 200. Some Meteorological stations are located in high mountain areas, difficult to be reached. Among them in Western Georgia Mamisoni Pass (1932) and in Eastern Georgia Kazbegi (1933) are the oldest and the highest meteorological station in Europe. Until the 1990 the number of Meteorological stations comprised over 100 and posts - 60. 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 Meteological Station Meteorological Post Hydrological Post 40 20 0 1904 1920 1930 1950 1970 1990 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
River Vere, which has its origin at the eastern slope of the Trialeti Range (in the surrounding area of Didgori mountain), at an elevation of 1670 meters, and flows into Kura River from the right bank, 0,5 kilometers below, at the Queen Tamara Bridge, 390 meters above sea level. The river characteristics are: length - 38 km; overall water fall - 1280 m; average inclination of 0,034%0; basin area - 194 km 2 ; average elevation of the basin 1060 m. The river has 41 tributaries with the total length of 95 km, the average rate of 0.72 km/km 2.
The annual normal flow ranges from 0.26 to 1.22 m 3 /sec. The maximum flow typically occurs in spring, in some years in summer and autumn. The maximum flow is 48.3 m 3 /s. The minimum flow in summer and winter ranges from 0.001 m 3 /s to 0.16 m 3 /sec. 1% provision, i.e. the water flow of centennial recurrence is 240 m 3 /s. A catastrophic flow passed through Vere River on July 4, 1960 and made 259 m 3 /s, which exceeds the water flow of centennial recurrence; in addition, 153 m 3 /s and 155,3 m 3 /sec were reported in 1972 and on June 4, 2015 respectively at Vere River. Catchment area of Vere river Legend Populated area Flooding area Riv Vere Catchment area
On 13-14th of June 2015, heavy rainfall (according to data from Tbilisi meteorological station, 49 mm precipitations were recorded within 3-4 hours) in Vere River basin and its tributaries caused a sharp increase in the water level, and, as a result of landslide processes, large volumes of mudflow/debris flows generated in the Tskneti-Akhaldaba section.
Simultaneously occurred several disasters: Landslide, mudflow, flash-flood, bank erosion, rock fall and hail; Landslide from 800 thousand to 1 million cubic meters of ground masses generated at the left slope of the river; During 3-4 hours, from the calculations, the amount of precipitation reached 100 mm; Tbilisi meteorological station has fixed 49 mm precipitation (which is 67% of the norm for June), in some places of Tbilisi rain wasn`t fixed; Water discharge compiled 468 m 3 /sec (calculated by the water traces); Compared to the average multi-year level, the current level in Vere gorge rose 3.4-4.0 meters, in some parts 18-20 m; Trees has blocked the entrance of the tunnel (culvert), the culvert was calculated for 450 m 3 /sec discharge.
549 River Vere Profile 548 547 Hmax=546.98 546 545 544 h=543.93 543 X = 474612 B=45 Y = 4618438 E=150 მ 2 Z = 546.25 Q=468 მ 3 /წმ V=3.12მ/წმ 542 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Flooding zone of the tunnel located at Svanidze str. in the Vere River gorge Water Level in meters
Flooding zone of the Vere River gorge Riv. Vere Legend Vere River Flood zone
Due to the Vere disaster, the houses, various infrastructure facilities, buildings located below the lowest mark of the River gorge, as well as Tbilisi Zoo were significantly damaged and/or destroyed. According to the latest data, 20 people died and two people are missing
Risk zoning and reports
Prevention measures Installation of automatic rainfall measuring equipment and hydrological stations in the gorge; Flood modelling; Full provision of Vere gorge with EWS; Building hydrotechnical constructions; Investigation and hazard assessment of the other river gorges around the Tbilisi.
Thank you for your attention