JERUSALEM (JTA) — Just one week after a brutal ice storm paralyzed North Texas, Jerusalemites suffered a similar fate. Up to 60,000 households were without power at the apex of the storm. in the wake of what is being called Israel’s worst snowstorm in decades.
Electricity was restored in Israel by Tuesday, though isolated customers in Jerusalem still had no power.
The Israel Electric Corp., on its website Tuesday afternoon, urged the customers without power to contact the company’s service center.
At least four people died as a result of the storm, according to reports.
Mark and Carol Kreditor of Dallas were traveling in Israel during the storm.
“Carol and I are visiting our nephew at rabbinical school in Jerusalem,” Mark Kreditor said. “We left Dallas in the ice storm to arrive to a Jerusalem snow storm. The staff at our Federation in Dallas have been wonderful making sure we are safe.”
On Sunday, Israel began transferring fuel to Gaza to run the strip’s sole power plant, committing to send more fuel on Monday and Tuesday. Two days earlier, Israel allowed fuel transfers into Gaza to provide gas for home heating.
Members of the Israeli Defense Forces assisted in clearing roads in the Palestinian Authority areas of the West Bank.
The Jerusalem Light Rail resumed service for the first time since last week early Tuesday morning, and public bus transportation began running regularly in and out of the city.
Some schools in Jerusalem re-opened an hour late on Tuesday morning. Schools remained closed in the northern city of Safed and in areas of the West Bank. Hebrew University in Jerusalem remained closed due to traffic issues, however.
The main road to the Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem remained closed Tuesday due to large snow drifts and dangerous ice patches.
“We were as prepared as a country should be for an event like this,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a Saturday evening news conference amid calls for an investigation into responses to the emergency.
Reports estimate that repairing storm damage will cost Israel more than $34 million.
