The recent heavy rainfall is not all that unusual. Indeed, last December Marsalforn had a similar amount of rainfall and flooding.

So what has changed now that heavy rainfall causes so much havoc?

It is the speed of the run-off of the rainwater. When rain falls on open land it percolates into the ground and makes its way down to the water table to create ground water. Needless to say, there is a limit to the amount of water that land can absorb and when too much rain falls it will overflow, flooding its surrounds. Therefore, we get floodplains.

With the huge amount of construction that has taken place in the past few decades, more and more land is getting covered in concrete. Water falling on roofs, drives, roads, pathways and all paved places runs off immediately to a drain and will cause flooding in a few minutes.

There is no soakage in paved or concreted areas. Before these buildings and paving were done, the water slowly drained into the land only to overflow on saturation with water.

So, two problems are occurring: one, the water table is not being replenished as it should and, two, flooding is causing damage to property.

Yet another good reason why a tax should be placed on empty/incomplete property. This would have the effect of reducing the construction of new buildings and the finishing of all the existing empty ones.