The Fort Worth Press - Rare Mideast snow brings Jerusalem joy, misery for Syria refugees

USD -
AED 3.67293
AFN 75.579458
ALL 93.684261
AMD 400.552092
ANG 1.798867
AOA 913.500796
ARS 1048.990742
AUD 1.58946
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.697138
BAM 1.861691
BBD 2.015325
BDT 121.726715
BGN 1.861691
BHD 0.376279
BIF 2953.786112
BMD 1
BND 1.345676
BOB 6.897339
BRL 5.913191
BSD 0.998144
BTN 86.050164
BWP 13.758507
BYN 3.266479
BYR 19600
BZD 2.00495
CAD 1.438395
CDF 2845.000202
CHF 0.907135
CLF 0.035514
CLP 979.943839
CNY 7.244102
CNH 7.25954
COP 4222.645281
CRC 503.64095
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.959307
CZK 23.974701
DJF 177.744991
DKK 7.13005
DOP 61.472562
DZD 134.215411
EGP 50.434267
ERN 15
ETB 128.437961
EUR 0.955485
FJD 2.30475
FKP 0.823587
GBP 0.80302
GEL 2.870016
GGP 0.823587
GHS 15.172053
GIP 0.823587
GMD 72.529093
GNF 8630.717243
GTQ 7.715006
GYD 208.823949
HKD 7.78841
HNL 25.416211
HRK 7.379548
HTG 130.388844
HUF 389.869921
IDR 16170.45
ILS 3.573596
IMP 0.823587
INR 86.210498
IQD 1307.600781
IRR 42099.999909
ISK 139.429566
JEP 0.823587
JMD 157.022512
JOD 0.709501
JPY 155.832496
KES 129.113322
KGS 87.450095
KHR 4016.943506
KMF 468.297745
KPW 900.000111
KRW 1429.630328
KWD 0.30807
KYD 0.83185
KZT 516.967303
LAK 21751.463519
LBP 89383.751368
LKR 297.701204
LRD 197.629813
LSL 18.332493
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.910761
MAD 9.967731
MDL 18.565513
MGA 4664.223502
MKD 58.57408
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000107
MOP 8.008662
MRU 39.916234
MUR 46.34982
MVR 15.410443
MWK 1730.807672
MXN 20.46195
MYR 4.377504
MZN 63.910273
NAD 18.332493
NGN 1558.000251
NIO 36.73314
NOK 11.22665
NPR 137.680263
NZD 1.75699
OMR 0.384599
PAB 0.998144
PEN 3.70682
PGK 4.006473
PHP 58.249891
PKR 278.182666
PLN 4.025903
PYG 7897.767836
QAR 3.639046
RON 4.731605
RSD 111.484461
RUB 98.176919
RWF 1391.842368
SAR 3.7508
SBD 8.43942
SCR 14.338952
SDG 600.999671
SEK 10.96063
SGD 1.348315
SHP 0.823587
SLE 22.703264
SLL 20969.49992
SOS 570.463091
SRD 35.10497
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.733521
SYP 13001.999985
SZL 18.337062
THB 33.687504
TJS 10.87973
TMT 3.51
TND 3.176717
TOP 2.342103
TRY 35.666505
TTD 6.787873
TWD 32.748297
TZS 2542.287373
UAH 41.835324
UGX 3681.88092
UYU 43.396316
UZS 12944.648042
VES 56.580451
VND 25080
VUV 118.722008
WST 2.800827
XAF 624.393889
XAG 0.032783
XAU 0.000361
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.769026
XOF 624.393889
XPF 113.521489
YER 249.049738
ZAR 18.54161
ZMK 9001.20148
ZMW 27.723573
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    62.2800

    62.28

    +100%

  • SCS

    -0.0700

    11.53

    -0.61%

  • BCC

    -1.3400

    127.11

    -1.05%

  • RELX

    -0.5400

    48.85

    -1.11%

  • VOD

    -0.0300

    8.37

    -0.36%

  • RYCEF

    0.0000

    7.55

    0%

  • RIO

    0.5300

    62.09

    +0.85%

  • NGG

    -0.4300

    60.28

    -0.71%

  • GSK

    0.2200

    34.27

    +0.64%

  • CMSC

    0.1150

    23.6

    +0.49%

  • BCE

    0.3100

    23.53

    +1.32%

  • AZN

    0.4600

    69.06

    +0.67%

  • JRI

    0.0400

    12.59

    +0.32%

  • CMSD

    0.0900

    23.96

    +0.38%

  • BTI

    0.8600

    37.91

    +2.27%

  • BP

    -0.0400

    31.45

    -0.13%

Rare Mideast snow brings Jerusalem joy, misery for Syria refugees
Rare Mideast snow brings Jerusalem joy, misery for Syria refugees

Rare Mideast snow brings Jerusalem joy, misery for Syria refugees

Snow carpeted Jerusalem and the eastern Mediterranean Thursday as a rare storm turned the holy city into a winter wonderland but brought misery to the region's Syrian refugees.

Text size:

The cold snap, which has already caused major disruption in Athens and Istanbul, saw heavy snowfall in areas better known for their summer heat.

In the alleyways of Jerusalem's walled Old City, children pelted each other with slushy snowballs after the first flakes fell late on Wednesday.

By morning, snow crowned the golden-tipped Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosgue compound, Islam's third holiest site, and carpeted the esplanade in front of the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Israel's meteorological service reported that between 15 and 25 centimetres (six and 10 inches) of snow had fallen overnight.

It took until midday for snow ploughs to reopen the main highways leading into Jerusalem from the north, south and west.

Schools in Jerusalem and northern Israel were closed, leaving children free to play in the snow, which was not expected to last as temperatures rose and rain fell.

The Israel Electric Company reported that power consumption reached an all-time high overnight as Israels switched on the heating.

Snow also covered higher ground in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority closed schools and some public services.

In neighbouring Jordan, heavy snowfall closed roads in the capital Amman and made driving conditions treacherous across much of the country.

Jordan's Meteorological Department forecast more snowfall on higher ground with temperatures expected to fall below freezing again on Thursday night.

Egypt recorded its coldest winter in a decade, with temperatures as much as seven to eight degrees below the seasonal average.

The storm whipped up waves of nearly six metres (20 feet), disrupting shipping in the eastern Mediterranean, the meteorological office said.

- 'Sick and barefoot' -

In Syria, days of heavy snowfall blanketed displaced persons' camps in the rebel-held northwest where families huddled together under canvas in temperatures well below zero Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit).

"We've been trapped in the snow for four days," said Abu Hussan, who lives with his family in a makeshift camp outside the city of Jisr al-Shughur.

"We have no shoes. We are soaked with water. The children are sick and walk barefoot. They have nothing."

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said this week that at least 227 displacement sites across the northwest have been hit by severe winter weather since January 18.

"545 tents have been reported destroyed and 9,125 tents damaged by snowfall, floods and winds, along with belongings of displaced people," it said.

In crisis-hit Lebanon, refugees and Lebanese alike struggled to secure fuel for heating as severe weather blocked mountain roads and left Syrian refugees shivering in flimsy tents.

In the small Mediterranean country, where economic crisis has driven more than 80 percent of the population into poverty, fuel prices have skyrocketed after the cash-strapped government lifted subsidies last year.

Conditions have been particularly severe in the town of Arsal, high in the mountains on the Syrian border, where Lebanese families and some 70,000 Syrian refugees have been struggling to cope with the cold.

"Most of the people can't afford fuel for heating," Arsal mayor Basel Hujeiri told AFP.

J.Barnes--TFWP