Israel's first rains bring power outages

rain
rain

Rain has combined with last month's dust to disrupt the country's electricity supply.

Earlier this week religious Jews began praying for rain at the end of the Sukkot holiday and the biblical "yore" (first rains) have followed swiftly. Heavy rains began falling throughout Israel in the early hours of the morning with central Israel between Ashdod and the Northern Sharon receiving some of the heaviest precipitation of up to 40 millimeters by 7am. 26 millimeters fell in Ashkelon and in the north rainfall was between 5-15 millimeters.

There were power outages in many areas including Tel Aviv, Ra'anana and Kiryat Gat. Am Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) spokesman said that the rains mixed with last month's heavy dust to clog up systems in many parts of the country. Many traffic lights were not working, exacerbating morning traffic jams on the day children returned to school after the Sukkot holiday.

There are currently flood warnings for the Judean Desert, Jordan Valley and Dead Sea regions.

The intermittent showers will gradually decrease as the day progresses but rain may persist through tomorrow morning, the Israel Meteorological Service forecasts. Temperatures will remain lower than average for the time of year throughout the country.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 7, 2015

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015

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