Fr Geoffrey G. Attard
The year 1964 will continue to be remembered in Maltese history as the year in which the Maltese islands were given their independence from Britain and became a sovereign nation, one of the many British colonies to have done so during the era of the so-called "dismantling" of the empire on which the sun never set. Ten years later Malta became a Republic.
Less than a month before the granting of Maltese independence, the Maltese islands experienced one of the harshest storms ever in its history. It was actually Gozo - the sister island - and the second largest of the Maltese archipelago which was struck in the worst of manners. The night between Wednesday, 26 and Thursday, 27 is still fresh in the memory of many Gozitans who although in their 60s, 70s or 80s will never forget what they went through on that weary night. An attentive look at the newspapers of Friday, 28 August 1964 provides the reader or researcher with invaluable information about the course of events that took place on that dreadful night when Gozo was taken by surprise and the small island suffered up to a quarter of a million of British sterling worth of damage.
The media coverage
The daily English newspaper The Times of Malta as well as Il-Berqa covered the event in their main pages and the event continued to attract attention even weeks after it happened. The researcher who goes through the succeeding issues of both newspapers in their early September issues will come across ample information about the horrible night of Wednesday, the 26th. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this sad event, it is worthwhile looking at both the event and its repercussions on the people of Malta and Gozo with special attention to the inhabitants of the smallest island among the two since it was they who had to face the consequences in the worst of manners. A staff reporter of The Times of Malta for the issue of Friday, 28 August began his report by saying that, "Wednesday/Thursday night was a terrifying experience for the Gozitans, when a heavy thunderstorm struck the islands. Torrential rains fell without respite from 10.30pm on Wednesday to 4.30am on Thursday". Later on the same reporter provided the readers with background information on the weather conditions in Europe when he writes: "Airline planes were delayed over three hours yesterday owing to storms over parts of Europe. A night flight which was scheduled to arrive in Malta at 1.10am yesterday touched down one hour-and-a-half later". What comes next gives an inkling of the terrible weather conditions of that particular night: "It landed a passenger who was so terrified and shocked by the thunderstorm which the plane had flown through that oxygen had to be administered". Although storms are characteristic in late August and late September in the area where the Maltese islands are situated, the storm at the end of August 1964 was of unique dimensions as these media reports clearly show.
Marsalforn and Xlendi, both popular summer resorts with both locals and foreigners, were worst hit. Motorcycles and vans in Marsalforn were swept out to the floods. The Times of Malta referred to Dr J. Pace popularly known as Ray Ritardo, a pop-singer, whose car was swept away at Marsalforn. The floor of a café known as Il-Beġan caved in; this particular place was very popular among the Maltese who used to spend their summer at Marsalforn. A Michelangelo Saliba who also resided at Marsalforn almost drowned together with his family had he not been helped by his neighbours. At Żebbuġ, a house was struck by lightning. Many trees were uprooted and boats on the slipway at Xlendi and Mġarr ix-Xini were swept out to sea. I find it strange that Mgr Anton Gauci does not refer to the storm in his book Pajjiżi Taħt l-Ingliżi (1993) in which he provides a detailed outline of the history of Gozo for the past century-and-a-half.
'Il-Menuna', a life lost at sea
The saddest event that took place during the storm was the death of Wiġi Vella, an 82-year-old man from Kerċem. The man, who co-incidentally happens to be the paternal grandfather of Mgr Dr Joe Vella Gauci of Victoria, was swept away to the sea from his house in Għajn Tuta Street. The house, which was situated in a corner facing the Kerċem primary school on one side and overlooking the valley that leads to both the Lunzjata and Xlendi valleys, was severely damaged, in fact part of his house collapsed due to the downpour. It is believed that this happened at about 3am when the man was asleep. The police reckoned that he was swept out into the sea even miles away from the coast because the body was missing for many days and was only found a relatively long time after. Il-Berqa, the daily paper with a vacation on Sunday which began to be published in May 1930 and stopped being issued in November 1968 did not agree on the age of Wiġi Vella. In the issue of Friday, the 28th, the Maltese newspaper reported that Vella was 78 years old. It did report however that Wiġi lived with his son who had advised his father to sleep on the first floor rather than on the ground floor, an advice that was unfortunately not heeded. Il-Berqa reported also how many festa decorations for the Għajnsielem titular feast of Our Lady of Loreto was heavily damaged and the arch in Apparition Square in the same village collapsed. The big wall that had been built next to the Silver Jubilee Ground in order to create a parking space was destroyed as was the wall at the Victoria Terminus in Main Gate Street known as Taħt Putirjal.
At Xlendi Bay, 30 boy scouts from England who were camping in the area had to abandon the site without collecting their belongings; they found refuge at the Police Station of the locality. The St Patrick's Hotel suffered great damage; Marjanu Vella, a local farmer lost 100 chickens and 50 rabbits, according to Il-Berqa which gave prominence to the event by dedicating half of its front page to the storm and carried also a photo. The main roads leading to Xlendi and Marsalforn were closed to the public due to the damage caused by the great amount of rainfall.
An unforgettable event
The storm of August 1964 or the maltempata li ħadet lill-Menuna as it is often still referred to by many Gozitans until this day is history for many people. However, it is still alive in the memory of those who experienced it. For the young generation it is only an event that can only be proved by photography which was then still in its relatively primitive phase. For some historians, geography researchers and meteorologists, the storm of 1964 echoes another event, quite different but not entirely different, that occurred in Gozo way back in 1693 when on 11 January, the earthquake that occurred not far away from the Strait of Messina caused the sea at Xlendi Bay to recede a whole mile - the event is about to be the subject of a book which will be published in the immediate future.
The 1964 storm can easily be referred to in future publications addressing the history of Gozo as one of the main sad events of the last half a century, "the storm that took Gozo by surprise".