A damaged car in the Galilee village of Jedida after violent storms Tuesday. (Jini)
Ostriches at a farm in the western Negev waiting out a sandstorm that hit southern Israel on Tuesday. (Nir Kafri)
Posted on 04/05/2006 7:47:28 AM PDT by NYer
A clean-up operation began Wednesday across northern Israel, after a day of storms, including a tornado, wrought large-scale destruction in the area and left 70 people injured.
Israel Radio reported that Agriculture Ministry officials and insurance agents visited the western Galilee on Wednesday afternoon to inspect the damage caused by the storms.
Large numbers of greenhouses in the area sustained damage in the storms, the radio said, in particular avocado, lychee and summer fruit crops.
The village of Julis in the Galilee suffered hundreds of thousands of shekels of damage in Tuesday's strong winds. Homes in the village had broken windows and doors. Electricity poles were also knocked down, but have since been repaired.
The head of Julis local council told Israel Radio on Wednesday that not one government office had been in contact to offer assistance in the wake of the storms that affected the homes of dozens of residents.
Officials from the Public Works Department were also out in force Wednesday, inspecting damage to roads.
Tuesday's storms were the latest in a week of extreme weather conditions in Israel. On Sunday, heavy rains led to the deaths of five people - two of whom were washed away and three who were killed in a road accident after driving into pooled water.
A total of 70 people, including 20 children, were admitted to hospital in Nahariya following the violent weather. Most of the patients suffered light injuries caused by flying objects or road accidents. Two children, aged six and seven, suffered deep cuts.
Meteorologist Nachum Malik said the tornado was an indication of increasingly unpredictable weather in the country.
"When this kind of phenomenon occurs over water it is called a water spout, but when it occurs over land it is called a tornado. To use military terminology, this is an escalation in terms of weather and a very rare occurrence in Israel. This is an example of how extreme the weather in Israel has become," he said.
A damaged car in the Galilee village of Jedida after violent storms Tuesday. (Jini)
Ostriches at a farm in the western Negev waiting out a sandstorm that hit southern Israel on Tuesday. (Nir Kafri)
How long before this is called an act of a vengeful Allah?
"How long before this is called an act of a vengeful Allah?
"
Or God's punishment for "appeasing Arabs", or some such nonsense.
"Clean-up begins in northern Israel, day after (freak)tornado hits (injuring 70)"
I see that Rove put the wrong coordinates in the weather machine again.
Israel having tornados?????? Now, that is bizarre!
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