Nahariya hit with 22 mm of rain in 10 minutes
'At around 1:45pm, there was a crazy cloudburst, and the rain kept getting stronger,' says resident Ziva Hess; heavy rainfall also hit Ashkelon, Netanya, moshav Lakhish and other areas of the country; storm expected to get worse Thursday night, abate on Saturday.
The northern city of Nahariya was hit with a fierce downpour on Wednesday, with some 22 millimeters of rain falling in 10 minutes, turning the streets into rivers.
Among the streets flooded were Herzl, HaMeyasedim and Shim'on Reich.
"At around 1:45pm, there was a crazy cloudburst, and the rain kept getting stronger," said Ziva Hess, a resident of Nahariya.
"I couldn't even get from a store in the city center to my home two blocks away. Even the taxi I took had a hard time getting there, and it was cruising down the streets of Nahariya," she continued. "On Shim'on Reich Street, where I live, cars were turning back because they couldn't keep driving because of the flooding."
Heavy rainfall hit other places in Israel, with Ashkelon getting 25 mm of rain between last night and 2pm Wednesday, which led the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to close the Ashkelon National Park to visitors.
Netanya saw 14 mm of rain, while moshav Lakhish and the Upper Galilee each got 13 mm.
The stormy weather is expected to exacerbate on Thursday night, including heavy rainfall, strong winds and chances of snow in northern Israel. The storm is expected to abate only on Saturday.
