5 Die in Tbilisi, Georgia, flooding

Weekend flooding in Tbilisi, Georgia, killed five people, authorities said. The news Web site Civil Georgia reported the five died when muddy torrents of water swept through the narrow streets of a rundown neighborhood of the capital Saturday night. Four of the victims included a mother and her two young children, were trapped in a small house. The fifth victim was an elderly woman found dead in a nearby neighborhood. Civil Georgia reported officials said the flooding occurred when water collectors failed to handle the heavy rains that fell. Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava said in the hardest-hit section of the Ortachala district, mud, trees and debris blocked a collector there, which forced the water to surge down into the residential area. Government weather forecasters said nearly 4 inches of rain fell in about 3 hours. The Mtkvari River in Tbilisi did not overflow its banks, the Web site said. city. President Mikheil Saakashvili visited the flooded area Sunday, meeting with victims and expressing his condolences for the five deaths. He promised to provide shelter to those left homeless by the flood. Saakashvili also said officials should begin working immediately to improve the living conditions in Tbilisi's slums. "We should do something about it; no one should be living in such conditions, especially in the risk zones," the president said. "What I was afraid most of all was flooding in the provinces this spring, but it turned out that it hit us in the very center of Tbilisi."