Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News 

The Israeli Air Force has admitted that they failed to act quickly enough during severe rainstorms that ended up flooding several underground hangars and damaging a fleet of F-16 fighter jets.

Quoting senior Israeli Air Force (IAF) officers, local media said the air force was unprepared for the 50 million litres of rain that fell on the Hatzor Airbase in central Israel in the early hours of the morning last week.

Reports said that eight F-16 fighter jets were damaged by the heavy rains and are expected to be out of action until next week.

Five jets suffered minor damage, but three were significantly affected and will take longer to fix, according to local media.

The torrential rain flooded runways and underground hangars where the aircraft were kept.

Report said that the water in the underground hangars reached almost two metres in depth and that several mechanics had to be rescued before they drowned.

Water flooded the base so quickly that there was no time to react and the mechanics were stranded in less than half an hour, according to local media.

Pictures released by the Israeli Channel 12 News that were later posted online show one fighter jet almost completely submerged in water.

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