Palestine was coming back to normalcy today after the devastating floods which swept the country, causing over $5,000,000 in damages, costing the lives of several Arabs and washing away many houses in the cities and in the colonies.
The municipality of Tel Aviv, all-Jewish city in Palestine, established today that sixty-five families suffered severely from the flood in that city. Immediate appropriations were made by the special relief committee to provide food and shelter for the victims.
Railway communication is still suspended throughout the country. No busses are running, since the roads are under water. Most of the colonies are isolated and have no means of communication.
The government today took measures to restore the telephone and telegraph lines which were swept away in several districts. A special relief committee has been organized to provide food and dwellings for the hundreds who remained roofless.
The most serious damages were suffered by the orange plantations in the Sharon Valley, which are all under water. No access will be possible to many settlements for a number of days, since roads are filled with water.
In many parts of the country lighting and water services were affected. The problem of supplying food to the isolated colonies now is being seriously considered by the emergency committee set up to organize contact with these colonies, many of which have not sufficient food reserves.
The flood was caused by heavy rains lasting for several days. So far no Jews are listed among the missing. There are, however, several Arab families listed as drowned in the Valley of Hepher and one Arab in Haifa, who was washed off the shore into the Mediterranean Sea.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
