An Israeli Bedouin teen was killed in flash flooding that swept across most of southern Israel Wednesday afternoon as a result of an unusually powerful April storm that dropped several inches of rain and hail in a relatively short window of time.
Qais Al-Houashla, 17, member of the Negev Bedouin community, was caught in a flash flood near Mamshit, east of Dimona.
Video taken by the Ynet news website's Roee Idan showed the teen being loaded onto an IDF helicopter that evacuated him to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. He was pronounced dead aboard the helicopter before reaching the hospital.
A Palestinian girl who was caught in the flooding near the settlement of Maaleh Amos was found soaked but safe after several hours of concentrated search efforts by the Etzion search and rescue squad and Israeli security forces.
The flash flooding in southern Israel trapped a number of vehicles, including a bus carrying schoolchildren on a field trip near Arad. Magen David Adom paramedics and search and rescue workers arrived and extracted the children, teachers, and guides who were on the bus. Forty-four of them were suffering from mild hypothermia as a result of being wet through.
Professor David Greenberg, head of pediatrics at Soroka Medical Center, said that none of the patients were seriously hurt, although some were in shock and others had sustained bruises on their arms and legs.
An IDF tank on practice maneuvers at the Shizafon base near Eilat, at Israel's southernmost point, also got stuck in a flooded depression and had to be towed out by another tank. None of the crew were injured and the tank itself was undamaged.
The heavy rain washed out roads across the country, stranding numerous cars and causing traffic jams. Trees were felled by the wind, and hailstones – in some cases as big as pingpong balls – damaged car windows and taillights.
The rain penetrated the roof of the Rothschild shopping center in Rishon Lezion, south of Tel Aviv, and caused a section of the mall's ceiling to collapse. Hundreds of shoppers were safely evacuated.
The Sde Dov local airport in north Tel Aviv closed down and scheduled flight traffic was transferred to Ben-Gurion International Airport.
Storms were expected through Friday and flash flood warnings were still in place on Thursday for southern Israel, the Judean Desert, and the Jordan Valley.
