Almost two weeks after a storm wreaked havoc across Malta, old trees at the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery remain uprooted, blocking paths and leaving graves damaged.

Gale force winds uprooted pine and Aleppo trees during the storm two weekends ago, with the largest public cemetery on the island bearing the brunt of the brutal weather.

The weekend storm saw gusts reach a record of 72 knots or 133 kilometres per hour – the worst since 1982 – and caused infrastructural damage in its wake. The damage was mostly in felled trees, demolished walls, water tanks, PV panels, collapsed roofs and balconies and downed masts and cables.

The cemetery, which is being restored, was littered with uprooted trees when the Times of Malta visited on Tuesday. Questions sent to the Health Ministry regarding the extent of the damage remained unanswered by the time of writing.

The church of St Philip, in Senglea also suffered extensive damages.

St Philip’s church in Senglea suffered extensive damage.

St Philip church in Senglea suffers extensive damages

Fr Antoine Farrugia, who takes care of the church, said the storm destroyed the windows forming part of the dome.

“The paintings in the church were completely exposed. Five windows were found broken and falling stones made a complete mess within the building,” he said.

The strong winds tore a wooden chandelier off its hinges and badly damaged the membrane waterproofing treatment, causing leakages into the church.

The damage comes as a double blow as restoration works on the 300-year-old building had started a few months prior to the storm, after the church received funds from the Cottonera Rehabilitation Committee.

Fr Farrugia said the government would be stepping in to help repair the damage, although an estimate of the cost had yet to be completed.

At present, Mass is being celebrated in the sacristy as works continue. Thankful that the damage caused was not bigger, Fr Farrugia expressed concern that the church might by negatively impacted in the future.

“We are mostly worried because we want to preserve it for future generations,” he said.

The Senglea church was not the only one to be affected in the Three Cities area.

A statue on the façade of St Paul’s church in Cospicua ended up the worse for wear, with the statue’s head being blown away by the winds.