Torrential rains lashed northern Israel and the Haifa area on Tuesday, flooding roads and prompting flash flood warnings in the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea, as the weather phenomenon moves south for at night.
In Maagan Michael, torrential rains flooded drainage canals, causing flooding in parts of the coastal kibbutz. Hof HaCarmel High School, located in the community, sent students home early due to flooding.
Videos posted online show students wading knee-deep in water next to half-submerged cars in the school’s parking lot.
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In a statement, the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council explained that “the large quantity [de pluie] strained the drainage system, which was clean and working, but could not withstand unusually high amounts of water.”
The Israel Meteorological Service (IMS) reported on the social network This figure represents approximately 60% of the average annual precipitation in the region.
The record for a single day is 255 millimeters, set at Kafr Qassem in November 1955.
Fears of flooding led authorities to close part of Route 2, the busy coastal highway linking Tel Aviv to Haifa, for several hours on Tuesday. Traffic was redirected inland.
The rain eased in the evening, but was expected to resume in the north of the country later, overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, before easing on Thursday. Other parts of the country, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Dead Sea region, are also expected to see heavy rains on Wednesday.
The IMS said there was a slight risk of flooding in the Judean Desert and around the Dead Sea, as well as along the coast and in the Shfela region due to rain.
Tami Ganot, deputy director of the environmental advocacy group Adam Teva V’Din, said Tuesday’s floods were proof of Israel’s “complete lack of preparedness” for climate disruption that scientists say experts, exacerbate extreme weather phenomena.
Noting that normally arid Israel had an interest in rain entering the natural water system, Ganot attacked the “climate-denying government” by proposing a bill on climate change that she described as “insignificant”.
Critics say the law will allow the government to change emissions targets and give undue influence to industry interests.
The law “will allow ministries and local authorities not to prepare,” Granot added. “This is nothing but recklessness. »
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