Heavy snow has been falling across Georgia for seven days, with the western mountainous regions of Guria and Adjara on the Black Sea Coast particularly affected.

National outlet Jam News reported on February 27 that a “humanitarian crisis” was unfolding specifically in Guria. Multiple households are without power, heating and water, and roads in and out of villages are blocked by metres high snowbanks, leaving thousands stranded without food and essential medical supplies.

According to data from the National Environment Agency, as reported by local outlet Georgia Today, snowfall is forecast to end after February 27, meaning that the worst affected areas in the mountains should get some relief in the coming days.

Aleksandre Sarishvili, mayor of the Guria region’s Lanchkhuti municipality, noted on February 25 that the situation locally was “difficult” and that “based on current information, about 40 houses have collapsed” under the weight of snow, according to Georgia Today.

“We have already mobilised additional equipment and are now heading in different directions to evacuate people or to clear the roads for them,” Sarishvili added, stating that “a certain part of the population” has already been evacuated to hotels and relatives’ houses.

According to Georgia Today, the country’s defence forces have been on the scene since February 25 to assist with the evacuation effort.

A Facebook group, Volunteers for Guria, has been set up to mobilise members of the public to help clear snow drifts and get essential supplies to citizens stranded in blocked villages.

Jam News reports that humanitarian aid collection points have been set up to gather food and other necessities which will be delivered to isolated households once workers gain access through the snow.

Sarishvili commented that he was yet to receive any reports of injuries, through the local outlet Guria News has noted several causalities, including in Konchkati in the Ozurgeti municipality, where a man died after the roof he had been trying to clear snow off collapsed on him.   

Locals in the Guria region have accused the local authorities of mismanagement and negligence, noting that the worsening weather situation in the region should have prompted more rapid action including the purchasing and deployment of snowploughs, the evacuation of people as a precaution, and the provision of emergency gas and food supplies to the worst affected villages.

While many residents are continuing to request evacuation from their snowed-in houses, Jam News reports, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has insisted evacuation is “not a priority” and is pushing for aid to be provided on the ground before residents start being moved out of their homes.

The PM, whose authority is not recognised by the opposition and many Georgians after his party was accused of rigging the October 2024 general election, claimed his political opponents were “spreading panic” and “exploiting the situation for political gain”, as reported by Jam News.

Moving further inland, the Imereti region in western Georgia has also been affected. According to the Imereti state governor, Levan Zalkaliani, as reported by Georgia Today, access to 149 villages remains blocked due to the heavy snow fall, leaving villagers cut off and unreachable.

Since the morning of February 26, Georgia Today reported, “148 units of equipment have been working to clean both the city and village access roads”.

Jam News reported on February 27 that some villages in Imereti remain trapped under two metres of snowfall.

Georgia Today also noted that 30,000 people in the region have been left without electricity, and 237 have no gas.

Zalkaliani commented that the lack of power and heating has meant schools and nurseries have been forced to close in certain municipalities.