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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 OCTOBER 2021
PHOTO: JAMES BIANCHI
EYEWITNESS
The Maltese islands this week
came under the influence of an
intense storm system that de-
veloped in the south of Italy and
Sicily on Wednesday and Thurs-
day.
Heavy north-eastern winds and
flood showers struck Malta, as
winds peaked at force 7 North-
to-North East on Wednesday
evening before starting to go
down on Friday evening.
Severe wind and rain pum-
melled the area around Catania,
causing severe flooding on the
weekend, after a rare Mediter-
ranean hurricane slammed into
Sicily and Calabria.
A 67-year-old man was swept
away by floodwaters Sunday
and later found dead, the Italian
news agency Ansa reported.
The Malta Met Office said that
it never considered issuing a
code red warning.
Italian meteorologists said the
stretch of sea between the Sicil-
ian Canal, the Ionian Sea and up
to the Libyan Sea was particular-
ly warmer than the norm with
values of 8°C above the average
for the period.
Although Mediterranean cy-
clones between the Ionian and
Libyan seas have often touched
upon Calabria and Sicily, these
The calm after
the storm
