Snow in the desert: Deadly winter storm hits Mideast

[NewsCaster]

Mohammed Ballas / APPalestinians cross a road flooded and swept away by heavy rains in the northern West Bank village of Kabatyeh, on Jan. 9. A Palestinian official says the fiercest storm to hit the area in a decade has claimed the lives of two West Bank women who drowned after their car was caught in a flash flood unleashed by torrential rains.By The Associated PressAMMAN, Jordan -- The fiercest winter storm to hit the Mideast in years has unleashed deadly flash flooding in the West Bank, dumped a rare foot of snow on the desert in Jordan and disrupted traffic on the Suez Canal in Egypt.

Follow @NBCNewsWorld  The unusual weather was a particularly harsh blow for the vulnerable Syrian refugees, especially about 50,000 sheltering in the Zaatari tent camp in Jordan's northern desert. Torrential rains over the past four days have flooded 200 tents and forced women and infants to evacuate their tents in temperatures below freezing at night, whipping wind and lashing rain.

NBCNews