Unseasonable downpour wreaks havoc in Israel

Floods stranded dozens of people and blocked multiple roads in Israel Thursday as rare late spring torrential rains hit the area. The country's south was battered by hard wintry weather, which began on Wednesday night with thunderstorms. Schools in the Dead Sea area were closed, and floods blocked many roads. Police and authorities urged residents to stay indoors. Some 70 tourists from the United States were stranded due to floods overnight Thursday in a camping site in the Arava region. They were evacuated in the morning by a rescue unit using helicopters. No one was injured, police reported. In Tel Aviv, Israel's financial center, some main traffic arteries were flooded, almost paralyzing the city center during the morning rush hours. The police urged drivers to avoid the city center. The storm is expected to subside by Thursday afternoon. The downpour came after a week of hot and sunny weather. According to Amos Porat of MetaoTech weather service, light rains occur in May almost every year but such heavy rains across the country in this time of the year are rare