Their eateries had little in common, save for their seaside views.

Come Monday, however, the owner of a fusion food restaurant in St Julian’s and the couple behind a St Paul’s Bay kiosk were both left counting their storm losses.

“Only the kitchen survived,” Buddhamann owner Marvin Gauci told Times of Malta. “There’s no Buddhamann left”.  

The Corinthia-based restaurant at St George’s Bay was almost completely blown away by the high-speed gale which whipped Malta on Sunday. The winds tore off the restaurant's retractable canopy and entirely destroyed glass walls and windows, as video posted to social media revealed.

"We lost everything.. it's as though we lost part of our body"- Charles Tanti

A few kilometres further up the coast, a kiosk-owning couple in St Paul’s Bay were still coming to terms with the devastation they had suffered. 

Winds and waves rocked Buddhamann. Video: Facebook

Their seaside kiosk was completely hollowed out by the pounding waves and winds, which blew everything – kitchen equipment, cakes and fridges – out of the cabin.

“The wind was so strong and the waves were crashing in. You stand here seeing things get destroyed and you can do nothing… I felt helpless,” owner Liliana Tanti said.

Her husband Charles pointed to damaged ovens, fridges and even a sink and said the storm was unlike anything he had ever seen.

"We lost everything. Everything. It's as though we lost part of our body," he said. 

It would take them at least two months to rebuild the kiosk, they estimated, as they worried about the livelihood of their employees.

Over in St Julian’s, Mr Gauci – who is currently abroad - was still trying to come to terms with the “surreal” destruction of his restaurant.

“Thank God I wasn’t in Malta or I would probably have been there trying to stop the glass from falling down. All I can think is what would have happened if there had been people inside at the time,” he said.

He, too, reckoned it would take around two months to be back up and running.

Rebuilding would begin “immediately”, he said.

Before and after: how the storm took its toll

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.