Egyptians Surprised by Unusual Snowfall

Cairo, Dec 14 (Prensa Latina) Neither archaeological finds nor political struggle between Islamists and lays are attracting the attention of Egyptians, focused today on snowfall in areas here and in the Sinai peninsula, northeastern.

This capital, built in the middle of the desert over 2,000 centuries ago, is shivering with cold, with residents waiting impatiently for the water to finally evaporate.

It was raining for an entire day Friday, and the streets were flooded, which is unusual here.

Then residents of high buildings watched in astonishment the falling snowflakes melt before reaching the floor.

But in Medinati, in eastern Cairo, the scene was different, with children taking to the streets to make snowmen as their parents struggled to start their cars, more used to unbearable hot than to a temperature of two degrees.

The snowfall caused dispute between the Meteorology Office and the media, according to which this is the first time a phenomenon like this happens since 1855.

The expert body refuses to give any date and Cairo residents stubbornly say that not even their great-grandparents remember such an invasion of water and ice, much less having had the chance to make a snowman they only knew by photos.

Fishermen from Alexandria and Damietta, in the north were unable to work because the ports had to be closed in both cities.

Others suffering from the snowfall are the refugees of conflict in Syria, who are living in poor facilities, and the Palestinians, mainly those in the Gaza Strip, who have been plunged into the dark, lacking fuel by the Israeli blockade.