Lean Environmental Solutions

Guide · Georgia

Mudflow and landslide

Mudflows and landslides bury yards, fields, cellars and animals in minutes.

Who and when

Mountain farms and pasture in the west and the mountains (Racha, Svaneti, Adjara, Imereti, Samtskhe-Javakheti). Spring snowmelt and summer storms.

Getting worse.

Right now

Right now (autumn 2026)

  • 23 Jul 2026: a landslide in Gomaro (Adigeni) damaged homes and farmland, for the second year running.
Before

Before: get ready

Crops and trees

  1. Map your mudflow line before spring. Is the house, barn, hay, cellar or orchard in a gully, on a river bank or on the fan where a stream comes out?
  2. Clean ditches and reinforce their banks before April. Keep rubbish out of ditches.
  3. On slopes, sow grass or a cover crop between rows in autumn; in dry places mow it in spring (general practice, check locally).
  4. Spread straw mulch on bare slopes (general practice, check locally).
  5. On steep plots, build terraces and tree rows in the dry season (general practice, check locally).

Animals and stores

  1. Keep pens, hay, night corrals and food cellars off stream beds and fans.
  2. Get the warnings: the METEO.GOV.GE app. On a warning, move animals and stay out of gorges.

Money: agro-insurance covers hail, flood and storm; mudflow and landslide are not listed, so ask RDA on 1501. Plant the Future closed on 1 Jul 2026; the State Agro Co-financing Programme (up to 50% of a project) replaced it.

During

During: when it hits

  1. Leave the channel and the valley floor. Go to the side and uphill.
  2. Don't try to cross by car.
  3. Call 112.
  4. Stay out of gorges while a warning is on.
  5. Landslide: keep off the slope. Cracks above the slip often mean more is coming (general practice, check locally).
After

After: recover

First days

  • Keep off the slope until it has been checked.
  • Take photos with date, time and place before you clear anything.
  • Drink bottled or boiled water. Don't switch on a flooded pump until an electrician checks it (general practice, check locally).
  • Dead animals: sudden death with blood from the openings may be anthrax; don't open the body. Never sell or eat the meat. Call the National Food Agency.

First weeks

  • Clean and test the well before you drink from it again (general practice, check locally).
  • Silt under 5 cm: mix it in. Deeper sand may need removing. Test the soil (general practice, check locally).
  • Throw away food crops whose edible part was under mud or water (general practice, check locally).

Money and help

  • Write down every call (date, name) and follow up in writing.
  • After Shovi (2023) the state paid 20,000 GEL to families of those killed. Help for farm losses: not found.
Build back better

Build back better

  • Don't rebuild in the channel.
  • Keep cellars, hay and pens out of the flow path.
  • Protect slopes with cover, mulch or terraces. Dams are state work.

What the farm check looks for

House, barn, hay, cellar or orchard in a gully, on a fan or a river bank. Bare slopes.

Get a free farm check

Sources