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Heavy rain and fierce winds pelt the Mideast
Source: Agencies |
December 13, 2010, Monday
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Heavy rain and fierce winds pummeled countries across the Middle East yesterday, killing a woman in Lebanon, sinking a ship off Israel's coast and prompting Egypt to close its largest Mediterranean port.
Authorities said steady rain appeared to play a role in the collapse of a six-story textile factory in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria. One person was killed, and as many as 40 people were trapped under the rubble, a security official said, warning that the casualty figure could rise.
The storm, which caused temperatures to plunge to below freezing in some places, ended weeks of unseasonably warm and dry weather across the region that caused dozens of forest fires in Lebanon and helped feed a massive blaze in Israel that destroyed thousands of hectares of forest.
It whipped up dust storms in Egypt and Jordan, while in the Syrian capital of Damascus, snow blanketed the streets for the first time this winter. Schools sent students home early and children ventured outside to play.
Off the Israeli coast, a Moldovan cargo ship sunk in stormy weather yesterday about 11 kilometers from the port city of Ashdod.
An official from Israel's shipping and ports authority, Yigal Maor, said the vessel's 11-member crew scrambled onto lifeboats and was rescued by a nearby Taiwanese ship. He told Israel Radio that high waves and winds complicated the rescue operation.
Elsewhere in Israel, rain and hail battered the country while strong winds toppled trees and traffic lights, snarling traffic, flooding streets and knocking out electricity to hundreds of homes. Local media reported that a pier at the port city of Caesarea collapsed, a breakfront at another beach cracked and towering waves washed over the shore of Eilat, a desert resort.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said northern Israel was hit hardest by the storm, and that extra police patrols were dispatched to divert traffic because of downed trees.
In Lebanon, heavy rains flooded the streets in Beirut and snow forced some road closures in remote mountain towns. A woman died Saturday night when an uprooted tree fell on her car in the northern port city of Tripoli, authorities said.
Authorities said steady rain appeared to play a role in the collapse of a six-story textile factory in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria. One person was killed, and as many as 40 people were trapped under the rubble, a security official said, warning that the casualty figure could rise.
The storm, which caused temperatures to plunge to below freezing in some places, ended weeks of unseasonably warm and dry weather across the region that caused dozens of forest fires in Lebanon and helped feed a massive blaze in Israel that destroyed thousands of hectares of forest.
It whipped up dust storms in Egypt and Jordan, while in the Syrian capital of Damascus, snow blanketed the streets for the first time this winter. Schools sent students home early and children ventured outside to play.
Off the Israeli coast, a Moldovan cargo ship sunk in stormy weather yesterday about 11 kilometers from the port city of Ashdod.
An official from Israel's shipping and ports authority, Yigal Maor, said the vessel's 11-member crew scrambled onto lifeboats and was rescued by a nearby Taiwanese ship. He told Israel Radio that high waves and winds complicated the rescue operation.
Elsewhere in Israel, rain and hail battered the country while strong winds toppled trees and traffic lights, snarling traffic, flooding streets and knocking out electricity to hundreds of homes. Local media reported that a pier at the port city of Caesarea collapsed, a breakfront at another beach cracked and towering waves washed over the shore of Eilat, a desert resort.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said northern Israel was hit hardest by the storm, and that extra police patrols were dispatched to divert traffic because of downed trees.
In Lebanon, heavy rains flooded the streets in Beirut and snow forced some road closures in remote mountain towns. A woman died Saturday night when an uprooted tree fell on her car in the northern port city of Tripoli, authorities said.
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