When we woke up on Monday morning with lightning flashes, rumbling thunder and pouring rain, I received a tongue-in-cheek message that the government, more specifically Lawrence Gonzi, will be blamed for the storm and its consequences.

I smiled at the time, while watching from my kitchen window the temporary river that had developed in the street where I live. But it turned out to be just as my friend had predicted. As the day progressed, the social network ended up as a political battlefield – with pro-Labour supporters finding all possible faults with our infrastructure that was unable to withstand the heavy load of water that came down from the skies, and pro-Nationalists trying to defend “their” government as best as they could, many of them saying that it was just an “act of God”.

Once the waters had subsided, we then had the government coming out with how, in the weeks preceding Monday’s deluge, it had cleared valleys of debris that was either dumped there or had accumulated in previous storms, and how its employees were again on site to remove the material that the waters had deposited on our roads and was a danger to drivers and pedestrians. Unfortunately, not every single road or culvert has been cleared – I am writing this on a Friday morning, and debris is still blocking culverts in some areas, which means that the flow of the water when it rains again will be hindered unless action is taken in time.

Even the Labour Party fell into the trap of blaming the government for the floods, with its spokesman Charles Buhagiar going as far as holding a press conference on the subject to try to gain some political mileage.

I am sure it would have been the other way round if the Labour Party had been in government. But it is a rather silly to react like this, first of all because the infrastructure we have today has been built by successive administrations from both sides of the political fence, and secondly because the forces of nature can be stronger than any form of protection that man can provide. For years, man has tried to beat nature, but nature seems to be always one step ahead.

Any sensible person should have realized that, regardless of who was in government and whatever was done to improve our infrastructure, there was no way that Malta could have survived such a horrible storm without some kind of consequence or damage. That more than 40mm of rain came down in just two hours – which is the average for the whole month of September – is enough to explain the extent of Monday’s phenomenon. And this is what happened only on Monday morning – we also had heavy downpours the evening before and on Monday afternoon as well.

Some wise guys publicly said that such storms are common in Malta and that the disaster that ensued was a result of over-development and wrong policies with regard to the environment. More than 42 millimetres of rain in two hours is not common, but some people find any excuse to try to embarrass the authorities. What they failed to point out – not because they do not know it, but because of their own agenda – is that the storm would have created devastating effects irrespective of any policy or development. It was just a freak occurrence that inevitably led to extraordinary flooding.

This happens everywhere, not only in Malta. A quick search on news sites over the Internet shows that somewhere around the world, there are towns and villages that are experiencing what Malta did last Monday. And by somewhere I mean both developed and developing countries – because no matter what kind of precautions are taken and what kind of infrastructure is built, there is no way that one can stop nature’s strength.

Naturally, in developing countries where the infrastructure is poorer and the houses are structurally weaker, the effects of such storms are more devastating, but we’ve had several occasions when the forces of nature have dealt huge blows, even to countries that are better-equipped to handle such situations. Just mentioning Hurricane Katrina that wrecked New Orleans in 2005 and, more recently, the problems caused by Hurricane Isaac is enough to put things in perspective.

If anything, we should consider ourselves lucky that the damage – human injury or loss included – is not greater than it is every time it rains heavily. For once, Malta’s small size is an advantage, and the fact that we are an island means that the rainwater ends up in the sea pretty quickly. There are areas in every part of the world, particularly those that are landlocked, which have to make do with high levels of water in their streets for days on end after a heavy storm – and here in Malta our roads are clear of water in a matter of hours and normality is resumed quickly.

There is another side to this particular story – and this is the generosity shown by a number of Maltese people who, risking life and limb, helped others who were caught in the torrential rain. The footage that was shown on PBS this week of how at least two people were saved from the floods just outside the Santa Venera tunnels was impressive. I believe that these heroes should receive some form of recognition for their bravery. They ignored the peril they were in to bring others to safety, and for this they deserve more than just a pat on the back.

I also take the opportunity to express my appreciation for what the police, armed forces and civil protection officers do at such times of difficulty. When each one of us tries to find shelter, stays put in a safe building or avoids the areas notoriously known for flooding, these people have to literally face danger to protect or save those who are caught right in the middle of the devastation.

I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.

[email protected]