Storm in Lebanon: hail, snow and a boulder crashes onto a house

Rainy and windy weather sweeping across Lebanon this weekend has caused some damage, despite providing a welcome boost to water supplies. According to Meteo-Lebanon, 6 millimeters of rain fell in Beirut over the past 24 hours, 10.9 millimeters in Tripoli, and 12.2 millimeters in Zahle.

The most dramatic incident occurred in the village of Tannourine, in the hills above Batroun, where strong winds and landslides caused a massive boulder to break loose and crash onto homes in the Tannourine al-Tahta neighborhood. One house was hit directly, partially destroying a facade, though fortunately no injuries were reported.

In Akkar, in the far north of Lebanon, residents of the villages of Dreib and Kawachira were caught off guard by giant hailstones and had to take shelter, our correspondent Michel Hallak reports. The same phenomenon was observed in the city of Saida, the capital of South Lebanon, where heavy rainfall led to street flooding.

Back in Akkar, snowfall began at 1,300 meters above sea level. Snowplows from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport are already working to reopen roads, particularly those on the Qammoua plateau and in Fneidek. Khaled Dib, director of the snow-removal center in the Qaytaa highlands, confirmed that the Qammoua-Hermel road is currently closed and warned against driving on mountain roads at night.

In Saida, municipal teams, according to our correspondent in the region, cleared gutters to prevent flooding.

A rarer phenomenon was also observed off the coast of Jounieh (Mount Lebanon, north of Beirut), where bystanders witnessed and filmed a waterspout.