Visibility is so poor that many flights in and out of Ben Gurion airport have been cancelled.
Israel's dust storm continued on Wednesday with the Ministry of Health warning that the elderly, pregnant women, chronic asthma sufferers and those with severe heart conditions should not leave their homes. The Magen David Adom ambulance service has been called out to deal with hundreds of cases where people have had respiratory problems caused by the weather. The Ministry of Environmental Protection said that air pollution levels remain very high.
Visibility was so poor in the morning that many flights in and out of Ben Gurion airport were cancelled and Eilat airport was shut down completely. All school trips in Israel have been cancelled.
The Israel Meteorological Service said that Israel's worst dust storm in 75 years, which is blanketing the entire region, is blowing in from Syria in the northeast. Humidity on the coast is very high - 90%, while Tel Aviv and Jerusalem had minimum temperatures of 29 and 28 degrees centigrade last night, respectively. Temperatures will rise to the mid-30's today in most of the country. The dust storms will continue and may even linger into tomorrow morning, with blue skies not expected to reappear until early next week.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 9, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015
Tel Aviv