Inclement weather strikes Israel
Tuesday night and Wednesday morning saw serious winter weather strike Israel, with heavy precipitation and high winds causing damage, injuries, power outages and traffic delays all over the country.
Heavy overnight precipitation occurred throughout the country, from the north to Eilat. In Jerusalem, over 25mm of rain was recorded in three hours, while heavy rains also affected the Golan Heights, the Galilee, the coast, the West Bank and the northern Negev. The most rain was measured in the Golan Heights and northern coast, where 100-120mm of rain fell over the course of the storm. Snow also fell in the Hermon on early Tuesday morning,
At a building still under construction on Ha'Arba'a Street in Tel Aviv, the strong winds rattled an outside elevator used by window cleaners. The elevators hit the building's glass windows, smashing them. The street below was closed as a result.
A tree was also uprooted in Tayibe and fell on top of a teacher's vehicle. On the exit from Nahariya, a man was lightly wounded when a tree fell on his car on Highway 4. In Haifa, several streets were blocked by fallen trees.
The inclement weather also caused power outages in certain areas including central thoroughfares in Givatayim, Bnei Brak and Ramat Gan.
In addition to power outages, traffic disruptions were also recorded throughout the country, with Highway 90 from Ein Gedi to Nahal Tze'elim closing completely.
The heavy rainfall bolstered streams in north Israel, bringing to the strongest water level and flow in three years.
The Kinneret's level rose another centimeter on Wednesday, and is currently at -213.71 meters. Since Tuesday morning, the Kinneret's level rose a total of 6 centimeters. The Water Authority said the Kinneret still needs to rise 4.91 meters.
