Last update - 00:00 26/12/2006
Three killed and 270 hurt on roads as Israel lashed by storms
By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Three people were killed and at least 270 were injured in road accidents, Army Radio reported Tuesday, as unusually heavy rains and extreme cold hit most parts of the country.
One man was killed Tuesday evening when two cars collided near the Na'ala junction in the northern West Bank.
Earlier Tuesday, 24-year-old Mohammed Hushan of Kfar Manda was killed and 14 other were wounded, two of them seriously, in two separate accidents on the coastal highway near Zichron Ya'akov. Police suspect accident in which Hushan was killed was caused by human error.
Also Tuesday, a man was killed and four others were wounded, two of them seriously, in a car accident in Kiryat Atta. One of the cars involved in the accident was transporting gas canisters.
Heavy rains hit Tel Aviv, Haifa and the Galilee area Tuesday, with snow drifts piling up on Mount Hermon, in the precursor of what was predicted to be the first heavy storm of the season.
Heavy rains in Tel Aviv; snow predicted in Jerusalem
Operations at Sde Dov airport in north Tel Aviv resumed in the late afternoon, after stormy weather halted flights and diverted planes to Ben-Gurion International Airport, Army Radio reported.
Rains also flooded the streets of Tel Aviv, backing up traffic across the city.
The unusual weather expected for Tuesday night and Wednesday raised hopes for snow in Jerusalem, the Judean hills, Safed, and even some regions of the northern Negev.
The snow is expected to start in the north Tuesday night, extend to the hilly regions in the center of the country on Wednesday morning, and move on to the Negev on Wednesday afternoon.
The storms will end Wednesday afternoon, but an extreme cold front is expected to last until the end of the week.
"Toward this evening and tonight, the weather will worsen," said Amit Savir from the meteorology company Meteo-Tech.
"Strong winds will blow, there will be rain and thunderstorms in the north and the center, when it will also begin to snow in the north of the country. Overnight, there will be stormy weather that will continue Wednesday morning as well."
There are expected to be 100 kilometer-per-hour winds Wednesday morning, which could pose a danger to property. Flooding is also expected.
"For nine months we've been prepared for snow," said Menachem Baruch, who runs the Mount Hermon ski site. "Just let it come."