The “relatively good” response to last weekend’s storm was proof the systems put in place in such cases worked, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Thursday.

The prime minister was speaking at Auberge de Castille as he thanked personnel from the police, civil protection department and the Armed Forces of Malta for their work throughout the weekend.

The “worst storm since 1982” lashed across the country over the weekend,  demolishing some walls, uprooting trees and damaging installations and houses along Malta's east coast.

Wind gusts reached a record 72 knots or 133km/h.

“We wanted to give a face to the people who helped the country during the past week,” Dr Muscat said.

The Malta Industrial Parks, Enemalta, the Water Services Corporation, the Arts Council, Ambjent Malta, Infrastructure Malta all helped in a “team effort” this weekend, he added.

“While we are still quantifying the damage, we want to help those who cannot be insured, such as farmers or fishermen,“ Dr Muscat said.

However, he insisted the government could only intervene in cases where people could not be privately insured.

He confirmed that the government would seek assistance from the European Solidarity Fund.

Malta had tapped into the fund in 2004, when it received over €960,000 to help deal with floods in September 2003.

At the time, the total direct damage was estimated to be at €30.17 million, of which the Solidarity Fund contributed to compensate costs linked to emergency operations.

The European Commission had assisted with the cost of emergency measures such as rescue services, providing for temporary accommodation, energy and water and repairs to the basic infrastructure.