JERUSALEM (JTA) — Several Israeli fighter jets were damaged after water from heavy rains flooded hangars at an Air Force base in southern Israel.
Repairing the F-16 fighter jets will cost several million dollars, according to reports.
Three of the planes sustained significant damage and five were lightly damaged. They will all be operational by next week, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The Air Force allowed military censors on Sunday to release the information about the damage. On Monday, the military acknowledged that it erred by not moving the fighter jets from their underground hangars prior to last week’s heavy rainfall.
Early Thursday morning, water levels inside the hangars went rose to five feet within about half an hour, as 13 million gallons of water flooded the base, according to the IDF. Several mechanics needed to be rescued.
The flooding “did not harm the operational ability of the Air Force,” an unnamed senior Air Force official said in a statement.
Heavy rainfall last week caused flooding throughout Israel, including in Tel Aviv where two Israelis drowned in a flooded elevator in a parking garage.
