Wind damage reported as cities brace for snow

Bearing violent winds, intense rain and hail, a severe winter storm descended on Israel overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday. Blackouts are reported in major cities as trees – and in Netanya, parts of a building under construction – are blown about in the storm winds.

The initial damage comes from strong winds. In Petah Tikva a tree falls on a bus carrying passengers. No one is hurt. Limited blackouts are reported in parts of Haifa, Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Acre, Netanya and some Galilee towns, as well as in Modi’in.

Some 30 cm (1 ft) of snow is expected to fall Jerusalem starting in the afternoon. Snow has already been falling in the Golan Heights and Upper Galilee since last night.

The big news for parents (and even more so for kids): schools, kindergartens and day cares are closed throughout the mountainous regions of the country, especially in the Galilee and Jerusalem areas.

It’s going to be an interesting few days, as the Chinese saying goes.

PHOTOS: Streets of Tzfas fully covered with snow this morning, as first snowstorm arrives. (Photos Abe Spira) pic.twitter.com/67by0h0BAm

— Israel News Feed (@IsraelHatzolah) January 7, 2015