Hopes to preempt last winter’s chaos when drivers were stranded.
Jerusalem’s mayor has ordered that roads be closed before an expected heavy snow storm wallops the city and surrounding hill country on Wednesday.
Nir Barkat said that roads leading in and out of the capital would be blocked to prevent a repeat of last winter’s massive snowstorm, when hundreds of cars were trapped in drifts along main highways.
“This is to allow the plows and the security services to keep the roads open,” said Barkat.
There are 150 snowplows waiting to clear the capital’s roads, significantly more than the 90 that struggled to handle the 2013 snowstorm.
Authorities urged residents to prepare water, dry goods, emergency flashlights and batteries, warm clothes and blankets, a radio with batteries, a fully charged cellphone and spare battery, and a generator, in addition to checking gutters and tree branches that could fall during the storm.
As much as two feet (62 cm) of snow
Some forecasts predicted as much as two feet (62 cm) of snow for higher elevations in northern Israel and in the high-altitude Etzion Bloc, south of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was slammed with one of the heaviest winter storms on record in December 2013, leaving the capital and other areas cut off for days, and electricity down in many places.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-mayor-plans-to-close-roads-ahead-of-snow/
Thanks to Taavi Peterson for this link