Heavy storms marking the beginning of the rainy season here and attendant disasters cost human and animal life, caused serious damage and brought inconvenience to thousands of persons in various parts of Palestine.
In the Jerusalem district one man was killed when a watchman’s cart was washed away near the Ahabta village. Cellars were flooded in the Geulla, Zichron-Moshe, Rehavia and Arab quarters of the capital city.
The occupant of a roadside hut between Ramin and Anaba, in the Tulkarm region, died when his flimsy home was swept off by the surging waters. The person who shared his abode sustained serious injuries.
At Hateb, two men and a child were struck by lightning while tending grazing cattle, while at Taiyiba, in the same area, a donkey was killed by a thunderbolt.
A washout resulted in a train derailment north of Tulkarm. Six tanker cars and eight livestock cars were derailed and twenty cattle killed. No human life was lost in this disaster. Damage was estimated running into thousands of pounds.
During the period of the heavy downpours rail service was repeatedly interrupted, with trains on the Haifa-Kantara stretch hours late. The train from Egypt also was prevented from operating strictly according to schedule.
The floods interrupted communications between Beersheba and other parts of the country and damaged a number of houses.
Court sessions were postponed when Jaffa and Gaza lawyers found themselves unable to attend, the roads being impassible.
At Tel Aviv, the all-Jewish city, schoolchildren and adults expressed satisfaction with the weather. The youngsters enjoyed themselves piloting craft of all sorts through newly formed lakes, while their elders pointed to the benefits to the parched countryside.
Bicyclists in the same city who unwittingly rode into the “pond” on Ben-Yehuda street were forced to dismount and wade out to safety.
At Mercaz Miskhari, two mules were electrocuted when a live wire was knocked down in the storm.
The Auja (Hayarkon) River overflowed its banks at Jaffa. Boatmen there took up a collection to repair the damage done, embracing removal of sand washed up, and prepare to take steps to prevent a recurrence.
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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.
