26 June 2010, 09:00
Hailstones completely destroy crops in several Georgian villages
Hailstones that struck Georgia at night on June 25 caused a serious damage to agriculture of the Kakheti District. Several villages completely lost their crops; orchards and vineyards suffered; settlements of summer cottages and household yards were damaged.
The river overflowed its banks and flooded the houses in the Alkhati Gorge, damaged farmsteads and killed lots of poultry. Local residents said that water destroyed their foodstuffs, as the "Medianews" reports.
Authorities of Georgia made a decision not to use special weapons (shells) for dispersing hailstone clouds. According to Georgi Gviniashvili, Governor of Kakhetia, use of such shells is long forbidden in Georgia, since they are unsafe; several years ago people were lost because of using them, the "Georgia Online" reports.
According to weather forecasters, rains, hailstones and strong winds will persist in some regions of Georgia up to the end of the month. Bad weather is caused by the cyclone that arrived to the territory of the country from the Black Sea, as the "GHN" reports.