Man rescued after kayaking on the Ayalon

A man was rescued after his kayak overturned in the storm-surging waters of the Ayalon River as rain continued to lash down on Tuesday.

The man apparently decided to take advantage of the swollen waters in the river, which had burst its banks and flooded the adjacent Ayalon Highway. However, the kayak overturned and the man was swept along before being pulled out of the frigid waters near Ben-Gurion Airport suffering from hypothermia.

The Ayalon Highway was closed due to the flooding and train services in Tel Aviv were canceled as the city ground to a soggy halt.

Elsewhere, police rescued two children from a flooded house in the Hargazim neighborhood of Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Four other people were rescued from another house in the same neighborhood.

Since the weekend, record rainfalls and high winds have wreaked havoc on Israel with flooding, fallen trees and torn power lines. The severe weather is expected to continue until at least Thursday.