Monster Storm in Malta

Dramatic late night lightning strike! (just out of shot)

No rain for months, but the weather gods have certainly made up for that in the past 24 hours or so.  If there is a (living) person on the island who wasn't awoken by the storm last night, then they obviously had quite the party on Sunday.  I have never seen so many simultaneous bursts of lightning, rendering any 'one-Mississippi' counting until the thunder rumble a waste of time.  It was an impressive affair, and accompanied by a considerable downpour.

 I've noticed parallels between the way Malta deals with rain and Ireland deals with an inch of snow.  In both cases, the country descends into

Maltastar photo: Engine flooded

turmoil.  After a deluge like the one we experienced here, water simply goes for the lowest point by whichever means possible.  Forget drains, the lowest point is generally a road at the bottom of an incline, and the water surges along paths and down steps and off inclined roofs until it gets there.  And then we are left with flooded roads, naturally enough, which makes getting around the place something of a trial.




After the storm:  Some holes in roads that weren't there before.  Some hefty insurance payouts on the way.  The usual hand-wringing about how this happens every year and nothing ever changes.

And within 48 hours of the first clouds being sighted, people are back on the beach again soaking up the rays.