Flash floods claim lives of 5 people

Woman swept away in Wadi Ara found dead; 3 killed in Jordan Valley accident.

By ELANA BROWNSTEIN, YIGAL GRAYEFF
picnic table water 88 (photo credit: )
picnic table water 88
(photo credit: )
Five people were killed and many others left injured Sunday when heavy rain caused flash-flooding throughout the country. Umm al-Fahm resident, Samir Mahmid, 23, was found dead by rescue workers Sunday afternoon, after torrential rains and flash flooding washed away her car on Highway 65 in the Wadi Ara area near Wadi Mei-Ami. Mahmid's husband, who was traveling with her in the car, was rescued from the vehicle by a nearby IDF soldier, police said. Dozens of other cars were trapped in the Wadi Ara area, where up to two meters of rain was reported. Highway 65 was closed to traffic in both directions as crews worked to rescue trapped motorists. A head on collision on Highway 90 in the Jordan Valley, between Tomer and Gilgal, left three people dead and two seriously wounded when flood conditions caused a driver to lose control of his vehicle sending him into oncoming traffic, police said. The wounded were transported by army helicopter to Haddasah Har Hatzofim Hospital in Jerusalem. A Palestinian man, Iyad Taha, 26, from the West Bank village of Beit Anan was found dead after rains swept away his car in close proximity of the security fence near the village of Bili'in. Three people were rescued from the Northern town of Musmus after their home was destroyed in addition to two elderly residents of Musmus who were rescued and transported to the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera. Many other homes were damaged as a result of the flooding. Another couple who was trapped in their vehicle near the Megiddo junction was rescued, as well as six people who were trapped in a restaurant near the Megiddo junction. Two policewomen were also rescued from flooding near the Megiddo junction. Several homes were flooded in Hod Hasharon due to heavy rains on Saturday night. In Ra'anana, a 37-year-old woman gave birth in a Magen David Adom ambulance which was stuck in one of the country's main traffic jams caused by the rain. In one of Israel's rainiest days this year, more than 112 millimeters of rain fell in Jerusalem, 67 millimeters in Tel Aviv, 21 millimeters in Haifa and 17 millimeters in Beersheba. The Kinneret water level rose 1.5 centimeters over the past 24 hours.