A woman escaped serious injury by inches after gale-force winds blew a door into her Xemxija home, sending shattered glass flying around her.
Savana Rose Woods was sitting in her front room on Thursday afternoon when the sliding door came loose from its aluminium frame and crashed to the floor.
She managed to jump away at the last second and escaped unscathed despite glass swirling around her, the shocked US woman told Times of Malta.
Photo: Savana Rose Woods“I’m actually recovering from bronchitis at the moment, I’ve been ill for nine days and I was enjoying the warm room,” she said.
“Suddenly, it was like all the wind in the world was blowing through my unit and I saw the aluminium door coming right at me.
“Instinctively, I put my hands out and jumped out of the way. I was terrified that I could have been hit, but at the same time, the shattered glass was blowing all over the room.”
Woods, who moved to Malta from California in February, is lucky to have escaped the encounter without injury, as the Meteorological Office has issued an orange weather warning for the strong force seven and force eight winds, which have reached gale force at times throughout the day.
Winds are blowing south to southeast at Force 7 to Force 8, becoming strong south to southwesterly and then veering towards a moderate to a rather strong northwest overnight.
Woods said she had been wary of the winds since Wednesday night, as she heard the loud humming of the fast winds and periodic thuds of things hitting the side of the building.
Photo: Savana Rose Woods“I’m nervous and I'm totally freaked out by this wind,” Woods continued.
“I grew up in South Louisiana, I’ve been through a few hurricanes and this is a freaking hurricane!
“The heavy wooden tables and chairs I have outside are being blown around like a piece of paper, it’s utterly terrifying.”
Woods’ neighbours and landlords have already rallied around her and are currently looking at ways to board up the door safely until it can be repaired.
Earlier on Thursday, the racing winds picked up plastic litter from the Magħtab landfill and blew it all across the surrounding garigue land and towards the sea.