“I will give rain for your land at the proper time, the early rain and the late rain…”
The first rain of the season poured down on Monday, causing flooding in a number of areas around the country but prompting welcoming smiles on the faces of most Israelis.
The water level in Lake Kinneret is dangerously low at present, having dipped below the lower red line to a level of -214.125 as of Oct 3.
The “black line” – the level at which water can no longer be pumped from the lake without causing severe damage to the entire water supply – is at -214.4.
Many years of below-average rainfall have caused a chronic drought, despite Israel’s world-renowned water technology, which has literally saved lives, and kept Israel from having to rely solely on the lake for its drinking water supply.
Monday’s deluge caused flooding in several cities along the Mediterranean coast, in addition to a massive flood that rushed through the central bus station in Tiberias near Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).
Electrical blackouts were also reported in the Haifa suburbs known as the Krayot, and in Hadera, and adjustments had to be made at an outdoor holiday concert in Hebron as well.