Autumn storm drenches Israel

Trees felled by seasonal storm in central and northern Israel; traffic jams and power outages also reported.

Reuters | Published: 10.19.14, 21:25

Winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour battered Israel on Sunday, felling trees and knocking out traffic lights, and leaving the roadways clogged and many homes without power.

Tree blocking Namir Boulevard (Photo: Noam Yehoshua) (צילום: נועם יהושוע)

According to the Israel Electric Corp. outages have affected Hod HaSharon, Ramat HaSharon, Ra'anana, Tel Aviv, Lehavim, Petah Tikva, Mevassert Zion, and Beit Shemesh.

Overturned vehicle which slid on wet road in Haifa (Photo: Hatzolah) (צילום: איחוד הצלה)

Israel's central artery, Route 1, which connects Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, was bogged down with heavy traffic in both directions, after a makeshift roof blocked the roadway.

Fallen tree in central Tel Aviv (צילום: יצחק יחזקאלי )

A tree collapsed across the heavily-used Namir Boulevard, leading to massive jams at the entrance to Tel Aviv in the midst of rush hour. Another tree fell in the popular Shenkin area, and power outages across central Israel were reported.

Makeshift roof blown across Route 1 (Photo: Police) (צילום: חטיבת דובר המשטרה)

Traffic lights were non-responsive along Derech HaShalom, a central avenue in Tel Aviv used to enter and exit the Ayalon Freeway.