Heavy rains, ferocious winds whip Israel from north to south
Rescue teams remove 2 drivers in Herzliya ensnared by 60cm puddle as drivers battle with furious rains that begin flooding areas of the country; strong winds lash Israel's shores and inland, snow falls on the north, and trees come crashing down on parked vehicles in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv; rains to sweep south before storms relent on Friday evening.
Police officers and municipal crews were forced to nip the first signs of danger in the bud by the early morning after two drivers found themselves ensnared in a puddle 60cm deep at the HaSira Interchange in the coastal city of Herzliya.
Firefighters were called to drain the water as vehicles were also bogged down in puddles in Qalansawe, the Arab city in the Central District of Israel.
On Thursday, Meteo-tech weather services forecast strong winds throughout the country during Friday and snow will begin to fall onto the Hermon in the north. By 7am, 10cm of snow had already settled on the lower grounds of the area, and the site was closed to visitors. Shortly after, it had risen to 15cm.
Further south, a blanket of haze will stretch across the Negev desert which will be accompanied by sandstorms and rain.
In Haifa, underground tunnels were closed to traffic for fear of floods as the storms began taking their toll on the Romema neighborhood when a part of a wall surrounded by a concealed gas accumulator collapsed. Infrastructural damage was caused with gas leaks reported as a result.
Temperatures were also expected to drop throughout the day, plummeting to 8-9 degrees celsius in Jerusalem, 12-15 degrees in Tel Aviv and 6-10 degrees in Arad.
Southwesterly and westerly winds are expected to reach rapid speeds of between 40-60kph and possibly as high as 80-100kph.
By the afternoon, the inclement weather is expected to extend its reach as rains spread to the northern Negev with fears of flooding. After imposing its wrath on the country, the storm is expected to begin to relent in the evening.
Police blocked traffic from HaYarkon Street between Allenby Street and Trumpeldor Street in Tel Aviv Friday due to a large hole discovered on the road on the corner of Ness Ziona street.
Trees also fell onto vehicles parked on Ben Yehuda Street after succumbing to the strong winds sweeping through the city. No one was hurt, but light damage was caused.
Wrenching the trees at the roots, Tel Aviv vehicles were not the only ones to fall prey to the storm's wrath, as more collapsed onto parked cars in Jerusalem and Ramat Gan.
Despite the accompanying doom and gloom for drivers and pedestrians, the Kinneret Authority welcomed the downpours that had overnight renewed the flow of streams in the north and come as a well overdue replenishment for Israel’s increasingly thirsty northern water jewel.
The Jordan's tributaries and the streams of the eastern Galilee and the Golan Heights also picked up a steady flow. Further west stronger currents rushed in the Kishon River and the Hilazon Stream.
Later on, a 70-year-old man and two children aged 6 and 9 were rescued by the police and firefighters in northern Israel after their vehicle became almost completely engulfed by the floods.
