Storm weakens across Israel, thousands still without power

Messy snowy capital

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Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Jerusalem, December 13, 2013.

The Defense Ministry deployed a large quantity of large vehicles, equipment, and food rations to assist emergency services operating in the snow in Jerusalem and the North on Saturday.

Over 30 vehicles, bulldozers, plows, tractors, generators, and salt scattering trucks have been sent to roads around the capital and Safed. Containers of fuel and diesel fuel have been sent to police to assist people stranded without electricity.

Tens of thousands of homes around Israel were left without electricity Saturday morning as severe winter storms continued to batter the country.

More than 35 thousand families throughout the country were still without power as of noon on Saturday.

The Israel Electric Company continued to work feverishly overnight on Friday in hopes of restoring power to tens of thousands of homes in Israel that are coping with the effects of this week's devastating storm.

According to Israel Radio, IEC crews managed to reconnect some 10,000 customers to the power grid late Friday, including 22 institutions which treat the elderly in Jerusalem.

Saturday morning, IEC said that there were still some 13,000 homes in the capital without power, while 20,000 households in various locales across the country have also had access to electricity cut off to them, Israel Radio reported.

The company warned that it may take at least another 12 hours before electricity is restored to all customers due to the difficulty in reaching cities and towns hit hard by the storm, according to Israel Radio.

As heavy snowfall resumed in capital late Friday afternoon, the Jerusalem Municipality strongly cautioned all residents to stay off the roads and remain in their homes upon learning of a second storm three times the size of last night’s downfall expected to hit the city.

“We are expecting a second storm triple the size of the one we’ve seen now and possibly up to 20 inches of snow,” said municipality spokesperson Brachie Sprung Friday at 1:30 p.m. “During the storm the highways will remain closed and all public transportation services will be suspended.”

Sprung said the railroad to Tel Aviv will remain operational on an emergency basis for the time being.

Due to conditions, Israel Railways said it will operate two special trains on Saturday departing from Jerusalem toward Haifa.

The trains were scheduled to depart at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and will stop at the following stations: the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, Beit Shemesh, Lod, Tel Aviv Savidor center, Netanya, Binyamina and Haifa Hof Hakarmel.

Due to fears of a potentially overflowing Ayalon River on Friday night – when the river was about 50 centimeters from spilling over – the Israel Police closed a portion of the Ayalon Highway from 9:30 to 11 p.m. However, after it became clear that the level of the Ayalon River had once again receded, the police reopened the highway to traffic, which was flowing as normal on Saturday morning, according to Netivei Ayalon. At that time, the company said that the Ayalon water level was 170 centimeters below the road.

Due to the sever weather conditions, about 60 percent of Palestinian homes in the West Bank had no power on Friday, according to Palestinian Ma'an News Agency.

Flooding forced thousands of Palestinians to evacuate their homes in the Gaza Strip as the enclave faced a state of "extreme emergency" due to the weather, Ma'an reported.

Treachery on the roads

Police worked to help dozens of drivers stranded on Jerusalem's streets and on the entry roads into the capital as intermittent snow continued to fall on Friday morning. Roads to the capital remained closed Friday morning. In the evening outbound lanes of Route 1 closed again to traffic from Jerusalem in the direction of Tel Aviv.

IDF vehicles and snow plows were also aiding police and municipal employees in efforts to aid motorists.

Ben-Gurion Airport closed on Friday for about an hour due to the storm battering the country.

The Home Front Command set up a control center in Latrun overnight Friday, and deployed units to snow-stricken areas. Drivers stranded on Route 1 and Route 443 at the entrance to Jerusalem were being evacuated to emergency help centers established at the Jerusalem Convention Center, in Mevaseret Zion and at the Ofer military camp.

Some 2,000 stranded motorists in the capital and on the highways leading to the city were rescued by police, IDF and Border Police forces.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat turned to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz and Jerusalem District police chief Yossi Pariente for help in evacuating the motorists.

"We are currently using all means available to save the people stuck in the storm. Only after the weather calms will we be able to open all of the roadways in the city," Barkat said Friday morning, adding that the city was facing "a battle against a rare storm, the likes of which we have never seen."

The municipality called on drivers to avoid coming to Jerusalem and instructed the city's residents to stay off the roads until the storm had subsided.

Due to heavy rains and snow conditions in many parts of the country, Police
issued a general advisory on Friday morning for the public not to leave their homes.

Police said that there was an increased risk of fatality for drivers in the current conditions.

The Egged bus company announced that it had stopped service to the capital and that it would only restart service on Saturday night contingent on improved conditions.

Jerusalem received between 30 centimeters and half a meter of snow by Friday morning depending on the area in the city, Israel Radio reported.

Electricity was cut on Friday morning to thousands of homes in Jerusalem and in the surrounding area due to downed tree branches that fell on power lines in snowstorm.

Israel Electric Company (IEC) repair crews were having difficulties reaching the power lines due to snow on the roads.

The IEC said some of the towns and neighborhoods that experienced power outages Friday included Mevasseret Zion, Har Adar, Abu Ghosh, Tzur Hadassah, Givat Ze'ev and Binyamin. The IEC has asked that the public be careful and stay away from cut wires, as well as report dangers immediately to the IEC service center at *103, or call the police at *100.

The Defense Ministry, working with the Public Security Ministry and the Home Front Command, dispatched two convoys of buses, bulldozers, and trucks with generators to the capital to assist civilians evacuated to rescue assistance centers.

One convoy set out to Mevaseret Zion via Route 1, and the second headed out to Bet Horon via Route 443. Some 2500 warm meals have been sent by the Defense Ministry to the stranded motorists.

An IDF source on Friday that said dozens of heavy army vehicles and assistance crews were sent to clear blocked roads from 1 a.m. on Friday onwards.

"We're prepared for the possibility of the storm continuing into the coming days and we're ready to provide further logistical support, as well as distributing medicines and food," the source said.

"We expect difficult weather conditions to continue, and we're asking all civilians to listen to instructions from emergency services and not come to Jerusalem," the source said. The army has gone on a state of alert on the Golan Heights due to the storm, and has deployed dozens of rescue crews and heavy vehicles there on standby. "We are more experienced with dealing with this kind of weather in the Golan," the source said.

Some ten centimeters of snow had accumulated Friday morning in the northern Golan Heights from Kibbutz Ortal northwards.

A number of area roads were partially closed and snow removal was in progress. Public transportation was shut down in the northern Golan until further notice.

The Golan Heights regional municipality warned tourists not to cross fences and walk into fields due to the risk of stepping on mines.

Snow was also coming down Friday morning in Safed, Meron, Sasa, Ma'alot, and in Upper Nazareth.

Police told motorists not to travel to Safed as the access roads to the city were closed. A number of vehicles were stuck on the roads leading to the Galilee city.

The Forecast

Rain is expected to continue through Saturday until it begins to weaken and eventually ceases by nighttime, the IMS reported.

Snowfall in Jerusalem should turn to sleet by noon and stop by the afternoon. As the skies become clearer, however, the temperatures will remain cold, falling to below zero in many places and causing icy – "black ice" – road conditions, the IMS warned.

Yaakov Lappin and Sharon Udasin contributed to this report

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