A cold wave with icy rains and flooding hit Israel on Sunday.
A private vehicle with two passengers was swept away in Nahal Qana in Samaria in the morning. One of the passengers managed to escape, and police and firefighters rescued the other one.
“Just a week and a half ago, we held an urgent discussion regarding Israel’s preparedness for floods and extreme rainfall,” Blue and White MK Alon Tal said, adding that storms like these “are expected to intensify in the next few years due to climate change.”
Israel’s infrastructure cannot properly withstand such storms, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said in a recent report about the country’s preparedness for heavy rainfall.
Rain and intermittent thunderstorms were expected to continue, together with strong winds nationwide and snow on Mount Hermon and the Golan Heights.
The Meteorological Service said there could be flooding in the Judean Desert, near the Dead Sea and along the coastal plain.
The wintry weather caused damage throughout the country. A man and girl were trapped in a vehicle on a flooded road in Kafr Kassem. They were rescued by the Fire and Rescue Services.
In Petah Tikva, one resident used a kayak to navigate down a flooded road.
The rain was expected to weaken and eventually stop sometime Sunday night.
Temperatures throughout the country will reach a maximum of:
- Tel Aviv: 14 °C
- Jerusalem: 7 °C
- Haifa: 13 °C
- Safed: 6 °C
- Mitzpe Ramon: 9 °C
- Beersheba: 15 °C
- Eilat: 18 °C
Temperatures were expected to be colder than usual on Monday. Light rains and strong winds were forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, especially in the North.
Maariv contributed to this report.