11 years since the June 13 tragedy

Eleven years have passed since the natural disaster of June 13, 2015, which affected the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi overnight and continued until the morning of June 14.

The flooding of the Vere River claimed the lives of 21 people, while two others remain missing.

The hardest-hit areas included Svanidze Street, the new road along the Vere Valley, the Tbilisi Zoo, and the Mziuri park. More than 200 families and over 1,000 individuals were affected. Key infrastructure in the city was also damaged, including the Vake–Saburtalo overpass, the Kojori–Samadlo road and the Akhaldaba–Tskneti section.

Part of the Tbilisi Zoo’s animal population was also lost during the disaster. Several animals escaped their enclosures and entered the city, including five lions, six tigers, six bears and 13 wolves. A hippopotamus named Begi seen walking near Heroes’ Square drew international media attention.

Some of the escaped animals had to be euthanised due to the impossibility of safely sedating them in urban conditions.

On June 17, a tiger hiding in a warehouse near Laguna Vere killed one person, while three others managed to escape. The animal was later killed in a two-hour special operation.

In the following days, thousands of volunteers participated in cleanup and recovery efforts in the damaged areas of Mziuri park and the zoo, which were widely seen as an unprecedented example of civic solidarity.

Similar flooding events in the Vere River basin have been recorded in previous decades, including in 1960, 1963, 1972 and 1995. The 1972 flood was particularly severe, fully inundating the zoo and causing significant damage across residential areas, with vehicles swept into the Mtkvari River and reported casualties.