Electric company vows to return power to all of Israel today
Two days after the end of the storm, some communities are still without electricity; most roads reopen, including Route 1 to Jerusalem.
By SHARON UDASINSamaria residents take shelter from storm 370(photo credit: Samaria Regional Council)
Approximately 8,000 Israeli households still lacked electricity on Monday morning, with about 4,200 of those homes located in and around Jerusalem."Today all of the towns of Israel will be connected to the power grid," Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) CEO Eli Glickman vowed.Towns in the Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria region in which electricity was reconnected overnight on Sunday include Avnei Hefetz, Adora, Alon Mora, Alon Shvut, Efrat, Motza, Aminadav, Kiryat Anavim, Dolev, Halamish, Kochav Hashachar, Nokdim, Kiryat Arba, Shavei Shomron, Susya, Otniel, Emmanuel, Telem, Tekoa, Carmel and Kfar Tapuach.Partially connected communities include Ofra, Abu Ghosh, Ora, Har Bracha, Talmon, Yitzhar, Mevasseret Zion, Maoz Zion, Rechelim and Eli, the IEC said.During the next 12 hours, power will be restored to Lifta, Magdelim and Ein Rafa.All communities in the North are connected to power except in specific isolated glitch cases in Meron and Safed, according to the IEC.The IEC continued to warn residents to take care when walking, as melting snows may unveil torn electricity wires, which can be life-threatening. Those who encounter such wires should continue to call the IEC at *103 or the Israel Police at *100 immediately, the company said.The brightening weather conditions led to the reopening of most roads around the country on Monday.Road 1, between Jerusalem and the coast, was reopened to traffic in both directions.At the entrance to Safed, Road 8900 remained closed in both directions. In addition, the Tse'elim Bridge on Road 241 was shut down due to flooding of Nahal HaBesor.Although intercity services to and from Jerusalem were generally operating at their usual frequency on Monday morning, these buses were all beginning and ending their routes only at Jerusalem's Central Bus Station, the Egged bus company said. Lines to Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea, which had faced flooding challenges on Sunday, were running as usual. However, lines to and from the Gush Etzion and Samaria settlements as well as lines 982 to Safed were not operating.
Urban bus services within Jerusalem only began at around 10 a.m. on Monday, with many lines operating in rerouted and limited fashions. Details as to exactly which lines are running and where is available on Egged's Hebrew updates page.The Jerusalem Light Rail returned to partial service, running in both directions between Giv'at Ha-Mivtar and the Central Bus Station.
