Despite the torrential rain and strong winds, the Israel Air Force is continuing
to train its pilots and fighter jets are taking off and landing from air bases
around the country.
Due to the hazardous conditions, however, the IAF is
holding frequent weather evaluations and, where necessary, changing its training
plans, said Lt.- Col. Eran Baje, commander of the IAF’s Meteorological Center.
The center is tasked with providing air bases with guidance on flight safety in
line with weather conditions.
Baje said the phones at the center are
ringing constantly.
On the other end are air force squadrons seeking
weather forecasts for the coming hours, and ground forces wanting to know if
they can hold drills in various areas.
“This situation requires a lot of
patience from us,” said Sec.-Lt. Eden Orzdel, forecast officer at the
Meteorological Center. “We must be vigilant on behalf of the many aircraft in
the skies,” she added.
Icing up is the main risk for fighter jets, though
they are able to thaw themselves.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the IDF’s
Northern Command has stocked bases with enough food to allow army chefs to
prepare meals for a week without resupplies.
The IDF is working to keep
roads open to its positions on Mount Dov, which is covered in snow, in order to
allow equipment and food to reach soldiers.
Soldiers from the Golani
Brigade’s 51st Battalion have gone into full winter mode as they carry out their
security mission in the freezing hills of the Upper Galilee, in the midst of a
harsh winter storm that is battering Israel.
The soldiers are wearing
heavy winter gear, while their colleagues from the Engineering and Logistics
Corpses on the Lebanese border are working overtime to prevent equipment
malfunction.
Maj. Sharon Ozolai, an engineering officer stationed on the
northern border, said every soldier has been given a storm suit, a snowsuit and
warm gloves.
Dotan Bakvani, a logistics officer who is also deployed to
the Lebanese border, said, “Every post in the brigade has either central heating
or radiators.”
Military bulldozers and salt trucks have been travelling
up and down roads in the area, in order to melt any ice.
The IDF’s
Southern Command has, in the meantime, prepared its forces for flooding in the
Arava region