After 10 hours: Ayalon Highway opened to traffic

After 10 hours: Ayalon Highway which closed to traffic due to flooding this morning of the Ayalon River opened to traffic in both directions. Police request: "Please drive carefully, avoid roads where flooding was created, keep a distance, ensure headlights are on and slow down the speed."


Due to heavy rains which hit Gush Dan, traffic police blocked this morning (Tuesday) the Ayalon on two lanes, from north to south and south to north, the ingathering of Kibbutz Gluyot- this is due to the rise in the Ayalon River which overflowed.


Ayalon's closing, with the rise of the overflow, paralyzed the Gush Dan area with heavy traffic jams, and there is heavy traffic at the entrances and exits from Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv municipality said that the water flow in streams Yarkon and Ayalon reached the limit of capacity and there is risk of flood in nearby houses. Places prone to overload are Bnei Dan and Ussishkin, and southern neighborhoods Yedidya, Ezra and Argazim.


Meanwhile, residents report that the Yarkon River began to overflow and ןא began to flood the Bavli neighborhood Kossovski Street, under the Yarkon Bridge.


National Traffic Police Commander said the weather service warned that a wave of water which is coming from the drainage basin of the river from the east, and therefore it was decided to close the lanes ahead of time. "The drivers are directed to alternative routes - Route 4, Route 5, who came from the north - the coastal road. Existing load on all these roads and in Tel Aviv too, since Ayalon was shut down from Tel Aviv and the entrance to Route 1. Due to the experience of past years, when the stream reaches a certain level it may flood the road and endanger human life.


Police also asked drivers to avoid coming to Tel Aviv – besides for urgent cases.


Israel Railways said that trains resumed in the center but there are disruptions.


Modi'in Illit River overflowed its banks, cutting off the eastern neighborhoods - and Hephzibah Green Park – in the city. Local charity organizations are working to rescue the residents, as needed (see separate item).


A driver in his 30s was treated by Hatzalah paramedics of the Modiin Illit branch, after drifting with his car into the Modiin Illit River. Forces operated for a long time to rescue him. After the initial treatment of paramedics the driver was taken to the hospital.

Kinneret breaks records
The stormy weather will continue in the coming days. Today it rained intermittently in northern Israel and will be accompanied by isolated thunderstorms. It will be unusually cold for the season and stormy winds. Snow fell on Mount Hermon. There is concern of floods and flooding in prone areas. Towards night the rain will spread south of the country - including Eilat. Snow will begin to fall on the peaks in the north.


Wednesday will be rainy and windy in most parts of the country. Temperatures will drop more. Snow will fall on Mount Hermon, the mountains of the North, Central Mountains - including Jerusalem and possibly in the Negev. There is concern of floods and flooding in prone areas.


Thursday will occasionally rain in most parts of the country. It may still snow in the North Mountains and the Central Mountains and rain will weaken and will diminish in the evening. It will still be cold.

Friday will still be unusually cold. Weather will be partly cloudy to cloudy with local rain in northern and central.


According to the nickname' juk', meteorologist of B'Chadrei Charedim, it may be that the Kinneret will break an all time record rise in the water level in a day, which is about 24 cm, which was recorded in 1992. He states that according to most models snow is most likely to fall in the capital only from the early morning hours of Wednesday morning, but in a more extreme projection - will begin tonight after midnight.

While the cities of the country are suffering from the ravages of the storm, nature is enjoying a one-time celebration of abundant water. Water level rose in the last day by 22 inches, as measured in the morning, it stands at 211.5 meters below sea level. Since the beginning of the system this weekend, the lake rose by 40 inches and is expected to continue to rise. "All reservoirs in the Golan are already filled and rivers overflow their way to the Kinneret, like Daliot River," said Hillel Glazman, head of stream monitoring of the Nature and Parks Authority.


Large areas of agriculture were flooded, and only when the water drops will we able to evaluate the damage. Hula closed for travelers due to the rising water. Ein Afek reserve was a huge drain and the reserve overflowed.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!