Several cars were stuck in floods during Friday evening’s storm, especially in low lying areas, but one Qormi resident never thought it would rain bricks on her pristine saloon.

“My car was literally buried under large limestone bricks. Now it’s a write-off. In the morning I had a car, by the evening I just didn’t. I could barely believe it,” Ramona Barbara told The Sunday Times of Malta.

Her Toyota Platz was buried under part of her neighbour’s wall, which preliminary inquiries indicate may have collapsed after overhead electricity cables dragged the wall down, following strong winds.

I was sure the ferry was going to capsize

The island was caught in the centre of a cyclone with heavy rain and howling winds of up to 130kph on Friday evening. The storm, often referred to as a medicane (Mediterranean hurricane), wrecked havoc on much of the island, uprooting some 25 trees, billboards and telephone poles. Heavy rain also led to flooding in parts of Qormi, Msida and Birkirkara.

“I was stuck in traffic in my company car when I got a call warning me not to get a shock when I saw my own car parked at home. That’s how bad it was. I yelped when I saw it,” Ms Barbara said.

The crushed remains of her car, however, were the least of her worries. Moments before the wall’s collapse, Ms Barbara’s 17-year-old daughter walked by the same patch of pavement which was buried in bricks.

Structures at the migrants’ tent village were also damaged.

“Cars come and go but that could have been my daughter instead of the car,” she said, shuddering at the thought.

While no one was injured during the storm, three drivers had to be rescued by members of the Civil Protection Department after their cars were washed away by flash floods.

The CPD also rescued families in two homes that flooded so heavily they had to be evacuated.

Fire trucks had to help pump water out of two Msida homes as rainwater filled the Valley Road area.

Flights were also temporarily grounded at Malta International Airport. Malta Air Traffic Control head Carmel Vassallo said the gusts were so strong that attempting to land a flight could have ended in catastrophe. “We had to take the decision to close the runways. In that kind of situation you run the risk of a plane of encountering a difficult landing, or missing the runway altogether,” he said.

The Gozo Channel ferries were also halted for several hours, as pounding waves formed in the narrow channel.

Fleur Marie Cilia Buckett was on board the last ferry to leave before officials deemed the crossing unsafe. She said the ship swayed so hard in the dark night she was certain it would not make it to the Ċirkewwa harbour. “I have never experienced anything so terrifying in my life. It was like a scene from the Perfect Storm. I was sure the ferry was going to capsize,” she said.