Nigel Vella, government spokesman

During a ‘thank you’ event organised at the Prime Minister’s office, Joseph Muscat told the crowd in front of him that the end-of-February storm “has proven that Malta has a system in place that works”. All employees who had worked tirelessly battling the storm could take pride in a job well done.

The force of the storm that hit Malta was grand in scale. To tell the truth, I have never seen anything like it all my life. And maybe, because of the grandeur of the storm, some might have thought that, as a country, we weren’t prepared to address a natural occurrence of such magnitude.

But the reality proved otherwise.

There was a huge team effort. Civil Protection had 468 calls for help in 48 hours. Personnel from Civil Protection braved winds reaching 100km an hour, incessant rain and hail. They helped to move 14 people from low-lying areas in Balluta and Vittoriosa. The police and the army were also mobilised and medical professionals at Mater Dei placed on stand-by mode.

The country is proud of you

People from the cleansing department, together with staff from the ELC and Transport Malta, cleared the streets and removed 150 tons of obstacles in just 48 hours.

Many other department and entities, although stricken, kept the ball rolling. On the Sunday, by far the worst day of the storm, the public transport provider still managed to transport 40,000 passengers around the country. All did a sterling job of ensuring everyday life and routines continued as much as possible. This work was just as important as those on the frontline.

Luckily, unlike the great storm of 1982, there weren’t any fatalities. But, of course, the storm had devastating repercussions for many individuals and locations. I can mention historic sites, sports venues and residential and commercial sites, but the most evident was what farmers had to endure, with the destruction of their livestock. To alleviate this, the government is working hard to acquire emergency funds from the European Union.

But, ultimately, the fact that the response to this storm was immediate, the fact that team spirit predominated, the fact that as a country we were agile and nimble to take action and especially weighing the fact that the country kept on running smoothly leads to the unequivocal conclusion that yes, we were prepared to face such brutal weather.

I would like to thank all those who gave their sweat and tears, to the point of risking their lives. The country is proud of you.

David Stellini, president of the Nationalist Party’s Administrative Council

The Nationalist Party and its leader, Adrian Delia, thanked the Civil Protection Department, all members of the Armed Forces of Malta and the police for their courage and hard work during and after the storm. Most of them went beyond their call of duty.

It is clear they were prepared for such an eventuality. By their very nature, storms are unpredictable and, as such, one cannot expect these first aiders, rescuers and the Civil Protection Department to be fully prepared for all eventualities.

The fundamental point here is that they should always be fully trained and ready in case a disaster strikes. The government should also be ready to fork out damage costs, even to private entities like farmers, as well as restaurant and home owners.

The government should also be ready to fork out damage costs

This has happened in the past, during the Gonzi administration. It has happened in a number of other countries too, when there is flooding or wildfires. The EU has helped financially many countries in the past.

Talking with farmers and restaurant owners in the immediate aftermath, I got the impression their prospects for the future are dire indeed. It is as if they lost up to six months’ worth of earnings in one fell swoop. As one of the farmers put it to me, it is as if he got hit by a lorry and was left bleeding and unconscious by the wayside.

Now, the Nationalist Party has never walked on the other side of the road. Its politicians have always stopped and helped, especially in such circumstances. We have always embraced solidarity and this is exactly what these farmers, restaurant and home owners need right now. We have not and we will not look the other way.

We raised this issue in Parliament and we raised it at EU level too. These people deserve financial help. It is possible to tap into EU funds and we offered the Maltese government a helping hand in this regard.

However, if the threshold from the EU side is too high, and therefore we would not be eligible for any funding, the government should dig deep into its pockets and fork out all the damage costs itself.

These farmers and restaurant owners deserve our help. They cannot be left by the wayside. They are our Maltese and Gozitan brothers. They are crying out for help.

Let’s be there when they need us most.

Emanuel Farrugia, Democratic Party

A force majeure event can often be referred to as an ‘Act of God’. Such events can include natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes or other weather disturbances.

Malta has just been hit by two weather events that may well have qualified as force majeure events. On both occasions, status red alerts were issued by the Civil Protection Department and the public was advised to remain indoors at all times and to travel only in an emergency. Public transport was entirely affected by the bad weather and came to a grinding halt.

Rain creates traffic jams, as many people change their usual schedule and leave home earlier. They get caught in an endless queue of cars in an ironic twist of fate. On days with rainfall lasting longer than 10 minutes, you have to prepare yourself to navigate around flooded roads, overflowing manholes and, in exceptional cases, flash floods.

An updated national emergency preparedness strategy is called for

While storms can vary, it is important to be prepared for anything that severe weather can bring. One of the basic ways in which flooding can be somewhat controlled is by ensuring that water courses and valleys are kept clean at all times.

In 2006, Malta had a storm water master plan and, in 2007, then resources and infrastructure minister Ninu Zammit announced a €438-million project involving the excavation of a network of underground tunnels as part of a two-pronged strategy to solve the flooding issue in problematic areas.

Then infrastructure minister Joe Mizzi stated, in December 2015, that the national flood relief project had been concluded. The €55 million project, partially financed by the European Union, should help mitigate flooding in Birkirkara, Lija, Msida, Balzan, Attard, Iklin, Gżira, Marsascala, Żabbar, Żebbuġ, Qormi and Marsa, he had said. A storm on October 29, 2016, flooded many areas and strong waves smashed through the windows of the Radisson Hotel, in St Julian’s.

An updated national emergency preparedness strategy, directed by the Civil Protection Department, is called for. More human resources are needed in the Civil Protection Department. Running costs may seem high but in an emergency it would prove to be money well spent, as its objective is safeguarding the health and safety of citizens and property through prevention.

The civil service must have a number of satellite regional venues that become drop-in points during emergencies. Local councils should participate as safe havens in emergency situations.

The vicious winds that lashed the Maltese islands late last month, leaving a trail of damage, should be a wake-up call. The urgency of the flood threat is increasing with the impact of climate change and the accompanying rise in the risk of extreme weather and heavy rainfall.

If you would like to put any questions to the parties in Parliament send an e-mail marked clearly Question Time to editor@timesofmalta.com.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece

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.