Storm Blocks Arz Road with Snow, Causes Damage in Tripoli

The Arz-Ainata road was blocked by snow on Wednesday as the northern city of Tripoli witnessed material damage with the arrival of this season's first storm.

According to Lebanon's meteorological department, the country and the Eastern Mediterranean region are being affected by a cold front situated over Italy.

The storm will abate on Saturday after bringing snow to areas situated 1,500 meters above sea level in the next three days.

Temperatures will range from 11 to 22 degrees Celsius on the coast, 8 to 12 degrees in mountainous areas, 1 to 7 degrees in Arz, and 5 to 16 in the Bekaa.

In Tripoli, an under-construction building's wooden fence collapsed over three cars in the Dam-wal-Farz area. The city's al-Manar area also witnessed some havoc after a huge poster of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and some rocks fell on a parking, damaging several cars.

The storm also caused a traffic jam in central Tripoli, especially at the al-Nour Square where infrastructure maintenance works are underway. The entrance of the western lane of the city's Fouad Chehab highway was also closed due to the storm.

In Dinniyeh, snow covered Mount al-Arbaeen, which is situated 2,200 meters above sea level, for the first time this year.

The rains that fell on the region have “rescued the crops of farmers from the drought of the past two months,” state-run National News Agency said.

In the evening, NNA said a road had collapsed in Beirut's Barbour area during the passage of a water tanker, adding that a probe was underway to determine whether the incident was caused by the tanker's weight or the heavy rains that have lashed the capital.

The Internal Security Forces meanwhile called on citizens and refugees to take precautionary measures to prevent cases of suffocation resulting from gas or coal heating systems, which killed 18 people and injured dozens last year.

ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous has also asked ISF units to maintain readiness and to take measures to facilitate the movement of citizens, especially in mountainous regions.