Local Editor

Storm "Ursula" intensified on day two in Lebanon Tuesday, blocking mountain roads with snow, forcing port closures and causing thick fog resulting in poor visibility.

The storm, expected to subside later in the day, carried heavy rainfall causing minor flooding across the capital and its suburbs, as the storm-water systems are incapable of coping with heavy rain showers.

Relatively, Director General at the Public Work Ministry Tanios Boulos reported that: "Maintenance teams at ministry are ready to intervene when any emergency occurs."

He further underlined that the ministry has a team on the field at all times to "intervene when remote villages are stranded by snow."

In parallel, motorists were stuck in traffic on the Khalde highway, south Beirut, in the direction leading to the capital, while water flooded the eastern lane of Ouzai tunnel, according to posts made by the Traffic Management Center.

Several areas in Beirut also witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic, especially near the Justice Palace in the Mathaf area.

Moving southward, both Sidon and Tyre ports had to close as navigation was halted due to the high waves. In addition, some of the agriculture tents were destroyed along the coastal road in the southern town of Zahrani.

Winds also uprooted a large tree at the northern entrance of Sidon and several villages and towns in Tyre witnessed power outages.

The high waves also caused damage to the northern port of Tripoli and halted navigation.

However, mountain roads were open to SUVs and vehicles equipped with snow chains.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team