Southern city rises on a morning of destruction following the intense storm that plagued it • Mayor: "Natural disaster that city did not know like"
The city of Eilat, the southern hair of the State of Israel, an international tourist city with the world's most beautiful bay, arose this morning (Saturday) with great destruction along the entire coastal strip from Taba to Aqaba.
The storm that came from Egypt and visited Eilat during the last day left a lot of destruction and heavy damage estimated at tens of millions of shekels. Mayor of Eilat - Meir Yitzhak Halevi: "This is a natural disaster that the city of Eilat did not know as such and therefore special attention is required of all parties."
This morning, the mayor has already approached the CEO of the Prime Minister's Office to request a meeting immediately with all the institutional elements, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Tourism, the Public Accountant, the Accountant General and more, in order to prepare quickly and effectively to deal with the crisis affecting the city of Eilat. Both in terms of the great damage caused by the storm and the long restoration it will require, and in terms of the great damage that will be done to the city and the tourism industry on which the city's economy rests as a result of the Corona epidemic with which the entire state is dealing.
This morning, the unprecedented storm that, as aforementioned, was raging for two days in the city, the municipality immediately began to work with increased cleaning crews to restore the situation to shores. During the storm hours, the sea emitted huge amounts of garbage and debris and many residents along with environmentalists and dive clubs were also harnessed for the task. For the benefit of the matter, the municipality has already set open containers along the beaches from the morning, and has called on residents to bring a bag of garbage or two, fill garbage, keep away from the beach and the municipality will collect.
Alongside the seaside operations, the last two nights, municipal staff have also been working to deal with the intense rain damage that accompanied the storm. Within this framework, midnight Thursday, Eilat City staff and contractors worked at its service, pumping water and clearing erosion to allow open axes. The crews also worked to clear lighting posts and fallen trees as a result of the storm.
As stated alongside the preparations by the municipality and the business owners along the coastal strip, the damage and their rehabilitation is expected to last for weeks and even months.
