Flights were cancelled and roads were blocked during a storm that caused damage and disruption across the island yesterday.
The high winds and pounding rain closed the airport runway for about 20 minutes with incoming flights from Frankfurt, Tunis, Munich, Bergamo, and Luton forced to divert to Catania. Departures to Rome, Munich, Frankfurt and Tunis were delayed.
Uprooted trees blocked the Mdina arterial road and others fell on pavements across the island. Some appeared to have been pulled out of the soil, probably by the howling wind. The storm cloaked most off the island in darkness for most of the afternoon.
Many were expecting the bad weather earlier but that did not happen, to the delight of the Notte Bianca organisers with the rain holding back just long enough for the successful cultural evening to take place.
I thought a car had smashed into a wall or something
The Meteorological Office said yesterday the strong gusts were expected to reach gale force. In fact, billboards toppled over and at least a pole was bent in Żurrieq.
“I was at home and heard a thud. I thought a car had smashed into a wall or something. When I looked out of the window I saw that half the tree outside our house had just disappeared,” Steve Galea, 28, from Attard said.
James Cordina, of Żebbuġ, said a creeper that had come to define the front facade of his house for two generations was found wrapped around a neighbour’s car several metres away from his home.
The police urged motorists to exercise caution and avoid low-lying areas. No major traffic collisions were reported.
Red flags were raised over all the island’s bathing zones.
Perhaps the closest the storm came to causing serious harm was when the strong winds toppled a substantial number of idle containers over at the Freeport in Birżebbuġa. Luckily no one was injured and no significant problems were reported.
Modern engineering marvels were not the only ones to bear the brunt of the storm. A sizeable chunk of the mighty bastions that protected Valletta for so long came off under the constant rain. Writing on Facebook, Doreen Fenech said she was driving past when suddenly she spotted a large boulder.
Less celebrated sites were also no match for mother nature. Social media was awash with photos of rubble walls that collapsed and, in some cases, led to landslides, including in Gozo.
The flooding also got the better of a number of vehicles, including a packed bus that had to be towed when it started taking on water in Msida.