First heavy rains wreak havoc

The heavy downpour and strong winds on Tuesday night kept the Civil Protection Department busy as it deployed all its units and personnel to answer people's calls for assistance.

An ambulance was one of the vehicles that got caught in the heavy water current in Birkirkara at 2 a.m. and CPD director Peter Cordina, who coordinated the various rescue operations, said the vehicle was towed to safer grounds. Once its engine re-started, it continued on its way to hospital.

Firemen were also deployed to Popeye Village in Anchor Bay to extinguish a fire started by lightning early yesterday morning.

The roof of a farmhouse in Sta Venera caved in but, luckily, no one was inside the room at the time.

Mr Cordina said the CPD was called to pump water out of residences, flooded by rainwater.

Several trees were uprooted by the billowing winds in Birkirkara, Lija and Attard.

CPD personnel were also dispatched to help drivers whose cars had been dragged by the currents or stalled in deep water, especially in Birkirkara, Marsa and Gżira and near the University at Tal-Qroqq.

A spokesman for the Meteorological Office said an average of 46.2 mm of rainfall was recorded between noon on Tuesday and noon yesterday, with the bulk of the rain falling at night.

Xewkija was the worst hit with 61 mm of water, followed by Birkirkara with 60 mm and Luqa, which experienced 41.8 mm of rain. The downpour was not a record, although these were the season's heaviest rains so far.