Despite yesterday's heavy rain, it was "business as usual" throughout the day for the Civil Protection Department, its director Emanuel Psaila told The Malta Independent.

Malta was hit by torrential rain throughout Monday in the first proper storm after the summer months, with several videos and pictures of widespread flooding being shared on social media.

However, despite the flooding, CPD Director Emanuel Psaila told this newsroom that yesterday was business as usual. There were the usual fallen down billboards, blocked culverts and the occasional stalled car which were dealt with in an efficient manner, he said.

When asked about the flooding of certain roads around Malta, Psaila responded by saying that these didn't hinder their work as they are used to such a situation happening. Ever since the flood relief project was built, this burden was slightly alleviated but their work still included cleaning culverts in order to redirect rainfall into the flood relief system.

Psaila said that the biggest problem whenever this happens is the fact that lots of people are unprepared. This always happens when it comes to the first rainfall after the summer months, but at the end of the day we didn't have any serious accidents which needed their intervention, he said.

Although certain parts of Malta experienced 100mm plus of rainfall, Psaila said that the Civil Protection Department was well equipped to handle these situations.