European City On Lockdown After Extreme Flood Frees Dangerous Zoo Animals

A hippo that excaped from a zoo during
an extreme flood in Tbilisi, Georgia this
week stands in the water in the city's downtown.  

In this year of catastrophic floods that seems to be happening with alarming frequency around the globe, another really bad one hit Tibilisi, the capital of the country of Georgia.

The city, home to 1.1 million people or so, was battered by extreme rains and extreme floods that killed at least 10 people in the past couple of days.

The entire city is also on lockdown, because the flood swept through the Tibilis Zoo, freeing all kinds of dangerous animals.

Among the animals that escaped are eight bears, 20 wolves, eight lions, white tigers, jackals and jaguars, according to the Daily Mail. 

Video and photos show people trying to corral a large hippo in devastated downtown Tbilisi. Another photo shows a bear stranded on an apartment building air conditioning unit by the flooding.

An escaped bear clings to a second floor
air conditioning unit at a flood-wrecked
apartment block in Tbilisi, Georgia. 

Sadly, many of the animals died in the flooding.  Only three of the zoo's 17 penguins survived.

(Warning: The link to the Daily Mail includes very heartrending photos of lions and tigers and other animals killed by the flooding)  Other animals had to be shot, city officials reported, because they were menacing people.

At last report, it was unclear whether all the surviving animals that had escaped had been found.

The flooding also destroyed dozens of homes and many people have been left homeless.

The devastation came after extremely torrential rains fell on the area, turning a small river into a huge torrent that swept through much of Tbilisi and surrounding areas.

This video shows chaos and rescues in Tbilisi amid the flash flood:



The next video shows animals loose on the streets of Tbilisi, and destruction to the city: