The rain came in torrents and brought down rubble walls it found in its way, but Qormi was prepared for Sunday’s storm: very limited flooding was reported for a change.
Qormi has always been among the worst hit areas of the heavy downpours. Usually the site of major incidents, the locality has also provided comic relief when empty coffins floated down the valley after an undertaker’s store flooded in 2010.
This year, however, with the tunnel that forms part of the €52 million flood relief project finally functioning, only limited flooding was reported.
But there was no such relief for the residents of Żabbar and Marsascala, where the roads were water-logged and a tunnel will only be operational in January, after it was delayed due to rock composition.
The national project is expected to be completed by April following the lengthening of the tunnels in the Birkirkara, Msida and Ta’ Xbiex areas, Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds Ian Borg told this newspaper.
The extra 1,300m stretch will help the area cope with the trend of heavier rainfall in shorter spells brought about by climate change.
The original tunnel dimensions were based on the seven 2007 flooding incidents.
However, while in 2011 flooding occurred only twice, the rainfall registered in those two floods surpassed that of previous years, Dr Borg explained.
Many people had been expecting the weekend’s storm to hit Malta earlier but luckily for Saturday night’s Notte Bianca organisers, it only struck around mid-morning on Sunday, blanketing the island.
No major traffic accidents were reported but the Civil Protection Department was kept busy throughout the day.
Marsascala and Gżira residents had to be assisted after their houses flooded, a driver was helped out of a stalled car in Gżira, hay caught fire in Birżebuġġa after it was struck by lightning, and a water tanker pushed by the strong wind had to be removed from a Paola street.
Rubble walls toppled over in Tal-Balal and Marsa while uprooted trees had to be removed from roads in Għasri, Gudja and Ta’ Xbiex.
The airport runway was closed for 20 minutes with several flights diverted or delayed.
CPD head John Rizzo said he had seen worse: the violent downpours were short and spread out throughout the day.