JERUSALEM (JTA) — The body of a man swept away by heavy rainstorms in Israel was recovered.
Rescue crews found the body Tuesday as the storms weakened. The man and a friend were killed when their jeep overturned while trying to view flash floods in the Negev’s Ein Yahav. A third passenger was seriously injured.
Major highways across Israel’s South were closed Monday due to the heavy storms.
Four people stranded in a truck at Ein Yahav were airlifted to safety Monday evening after an hours-long rescue effort .
Monday’s flooding also closed most schools throughout the Negev, and shut down both the Eilat and Ovda airports, according to reports. In addition, the Yitzhak Rabin border crossing between Israel and Jordan was closed.
In one of the rainiest days in Israel this winter, nearly half an inch had fallen by noon in Eilat — three times the average yearly amount of rain in the city, according to Haaretz. Between 12 and 24 inches are expected by the end of Monday. Hiking was banned in the Negev.
The rain is expected to continue throughout the week.
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