Malta almost ground to a halt yesterday, when it woke up to torrential rains, which for some six hours showed no let-up and kept thousands of workers from their place of work.

Motorists were stranded, already horrendous roads were made even worse and in the country, rubble walls collapsed and precious soil was carried away. In several areas the misery of the day was compounded with a power failure.

The only positive aspect, apart from no injuries being reported, was that the pelting rain washed away the accumulated dust of summer. The trees will be fresh green this morning.

The storm, which reminded many of the October, 1979 deluge, lasted six hours with 100.6 mm (just over four inches) of rain measured at Luqa, and a staggering 216 mm falling in Birkirkara alone. The average for the country in the 24 hours up to noon yesterday was 90.7 mm.

In contrast to the 1979 storm when four people lost their life, nobody was reported injured thanks to a quick and selfless, though with limited resources, intervention of the Civil Protection Department, the police and the army, helped by the Department of Public Works and the Malta Red Cross Society.

The situation was verging on the catastrophic in the morning and the CPD was constantly urging people to stay at home since many roads across the country were inaccessible.

CPD director Peter Cordina said that Qormi, Msida, Birkirkara, Burmarrad, Siggiewi and Marsa were among the worst hit by floods and the CPD, the Armed Forces of Malta and the police had to work tirelessly to rescue people from their cars.

Some 1,000 calls for assistance were received from householders who could not cope with the flooding, and in Qormi a family with three children was saved when their house was flooded.

The CPD also helped convey hospital patients.

There were 20 fire engines out on the streets, as well as army trucks, and by noon over 60 people were rescued from their cars, some of them in danger of being carried away by violent floodwaters.

Four others, in Birkirkara and Balzan, were in serious danger of drowning but were saved.

In the morning, the CPD were also searching for two people in Qormi, but they were later informed that the two had abandoned their vehicle to seek shelter.

Mr Cordina said the heavy rains caused the collapse of an abandoned house, while huge boulders had come loose and rolled onto a sub-station at the Malta Drydocks. Nobody was hurt.

Police received over 200 calls for help while car breakdown companies were inundated with calls from motorists stranded all across the island.

RMF breakdown coordinator Robert Debattista said they received a heavy influx of calls and were kept busy until late in the evening.

"We have been too busy dealing with the calls to be able to issue any statistics, but the phone never stopped ringing and we had 22 vehicles out all day," he said.

At times the company's trucks got stuck in traffic and the raging torrents of water in the roads prevented them from reaching their destination.

To make matters worse, the mobile network system was down at times and stranded motorists, who were desperately trying to call for help or to let their loved ones know they were safe, could not get through.

Another company, MTC, described the situation as "alarming" and said that until 4 p.m. they had dealt with at least 145 car breakdowns.

"There were moments when motorists who phoned for assistance, called back and told us not to bother since their car had been swept away and they had no clue where to look for it," an MTC spokesperson said.

In some instances motorists attempting to get to work had no choice but to turn back or risk being swept away.

Apart from the floods, rocks and stones were strewn across roads, making it hazardous for motorists.

Most work places were forced to work with a skeleton staff and the Stock Exchange traded for just half an hour while shops and offices remained shut.

Bank of Valletta employees who found it impossible to get to work, were urged by their bosses to stay at home until the weather conditions improved.

By 11 a.m. just 13 branches were open for service and the bank's main branch in Republic Street, Valletta opened for business at 1 p.m.

The cabinet had to postpone its meeting to the evening, while Maltapost had to suspend its services in a number of localities due to the blinding rain.

Many reported a sad end to their holiday, or a ruined start, as they failed to reach the airport on time. A spokesman for Malta International Airport said around 15 flights were delayed as a result of the storm.

The luggage handling process was also working at a snail's pace as the heavy rains slowed the operation.

A flight from Palermo had to be diverted to Catania and another flight from Catania was forced back when poor visibility made it impossible to continue.

The weather also caused faults on a number of overhead lines that supplied electricity.

Enemalta Corporation said the faults caused interruptions to the electricity service in parts of Zebbug, Marsa, Hamrun, Guardamangia, Pieta, Msida, Qormi, Siggiewi, Ghar Lapsi, Rabat, Dingli, Burmarrad, Bidnija, and Marsascala.

Action was taken to locate the faults and carry out repair works. But since there were numerous faults and because the roads were inaccessible, the repairs could not be carried out immediately - they hardly ever are, a wit remarked bitterly.

Some radio and television stations were off air for most of the morning after the Gharghur tower was temporarily without power. The woes of Net TV and Radio 101 were exacerbated after the station's generator was hit by lightning.

At Salina, residents joined forces to rescue several motorists who were trapped in cars, while those residing in the notorious Valley Road in Birkirkara described the flooding as the worst they had seen in 45 years.

A number of landings, driveways, and gardens in this street were washed away by the flood and residents were bailing mud and water from their landing.

Witnesses also said the area around Wied Incita in Attard was closed on both sides - even bus drivers would not continue on their trip to Valletta.

They said it was shameful that despite knowing the disastrous effect of previous storms, nothing had been done to prevent this perennial recurrence.

Others complained that the flooding problem had been made worse by over-development.

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association called for a massive effort to get affected areas back to normal as fast as possible.

"For all intents and purposes, despite the storm, we are still in peak season and there are a few more weeks of summer left in which we must be able to welcome guests in a clean and organised environment," it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Malta Transport Authority called on the public to report any obstructions they may encounter on the road by calling on Freephone number 80072393.