Record 117mm of rain in 75 minutes floods central Israel, closes Ayalon lanes

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A winter storm dropped a record 117 millimetres of rain in 75 minutes on Kadima in the Sharon region on Saturday, flooding streets across central Israel, submerging cars and closing two lanes of Tel Aviv's Ayalon Highway. The Israel Meteorological Service station at Kadima recorded the deluge, the most extreme day of rainfall there since November 2020.

The Kadima-Zoran local council told residents to stay home and avoid non-essential outings as council teams, police and Fire and Rescue Services worked to clear hazards and drain standing water. Flooding was reported on Route 4 near the Drorim Junction, and cars were submerged in Even Yehuda. Ashdod was among the hardest-hit cities, with about 80mm recorded by 9:50 a.m. and roughly 90mm over 24 hours, while Tel Aviv took 40mm, 35 of them in a single hour, and Binyamina about 50mm in an hour. Hail fell in Kfar Saba.

Two southbound lanes of the Ayalon Highway were closed near the La Guardia Interchange after rainwater caused a drainage problem and a crack in the road, with the left lane and the express lane shut. Central District firefighters answered 11 rescue calls during the day, including two elderly people pulled from a car submerged in water at the Dror Interchange and a woman and her dog rescued from a flooded home in Jerusalem's German Colony. Power cuts left residents of Gan Yavne and nearby communities without electricity for hours.

The 117mm figure is reported identically by the Meteorological Service through the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post, JFeed and N12, and the record character of the fall is the service's own assessment. Ashdod's totals differ slightly between outlets only because they were measured at different times of the day, about 80mm by mid-morning and around 90mm across 24 hours. No deaths or serious injuries were reported in the coverage reviewed. Some early bulletins spelled the town Kedima; the station and the council use Kadima.

Short, violent bursts of rain like this one overwhelm drains faster than steady rain, which is why the same storm that flooded the coastal plain also shut a highway and stranded motorists within hours. Rain was expected to continue across northern and central Israel on Sunday morning, with isolated thunderstorms possible, before weakening from the afternoon. With runoff and drainage water flowing into the sea, the Health Ministry warned the public against swimming at bathing beaches until further notice.