Floods, traffic, and rare sights of lightning strike Israel
Winter is back: Apartments flooded in Bnei Brak, drivers in Ashdod had to be rescued and intense flooding blocks parts of the Ayalon Highways.
After a week of warm Mediterranean weather, Israelis woke up to a taste of winter on Sunday morning as thunder and lightning blasted in the sky overnight. The rain continued in the morning, causing flooding and delays all across the country.
The rain, which was expected to continue until Monday, caused major flooding on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, leading the highway to be closed down between the Kibbutz Galuyot and LaGuardia exits.
Another concern on Sunday was that the heavy rainfall and wind would cause rivers by the Dead Sea to overflow. Winds will power up to 90 MPH and hail is expected to fall.
Residents of Bnei Brak also woke up to massive flooding Sunday morning.
Lahav Tzafniya, a firefighter in Bnei Brak said, "From 3:30-6am our crews worked on several flooding sites across the city, including a car that was flooded with passengers stuck inside. We rescued at least four people that were in a vehicle with water that reached up to the windows. Ground-floor apartments and an elevator were flooded on one street."
Firefighters also rescued people trapped in their vehicles due to the rain in Ashdod in southern Israel.
"From about 5pm on Saturday we have been witnessing wind, rain, thunder and lightning, the likes of which haven't been seen here in a long time," said Eli Dagani from Kiryat Bialik.
"There was thunder so strong that we thought the ground was shaking. The noise was rare. I ran out to take a picture because I live on a rooftop apartment. There are puddles in all directions from a downpour of rain that happened all at once," Dagani said
A significant drop in temperature is expected in Jerusalem, Safed, Tel Aviv and Haifa on Sunday. Heavy rain, thunderstorms, lightning, strong wind gusts and hail are expected to continue from the north to the south of Israel, along with fear of more flooding.
Gilad Morag and Tal Koris contributed to this report.
