As the level of the Kinneret begins its climb upwards, the heavy rains that are being thankfully received in northern Israel are causing difficulties - and worse - in urban areas. A driver fell with his car into a reservoir near Atlit in the north and drowned. Several roads in Haifa are flooded, and the old Coastal Highway is closed for the same reason. Children on a bus stuck in a small newly-formed pond and in a flooded nursery were safely rescued by fireworkers and others. Seven families have been evacuated from Moshav Tzrufah, just west of Kerem Maharal and south of Atlit, and other damage has been caused there. The rain is expected to spread southwards over the next two days, while snow is falling in the north.



325 millimeters (over a foot!) of rain have fallen since last night in the Zichron Yaakov area.