‘Farmers have never seen so much damage’

Updated at 5.17pm 

Farmers suffered a huge level of damage to their crops and structures as winds reaching speeds of 101km/h battered the island on Sunday, with losses amounting to tens of thousands of euros each.

“Most farmers do not remember this much damage or such strong winds,” Martin Borg from the Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi told Times of Malta.

“Those with greenhouses were the most affected: they suffered a double whammy with the loss of their structures and the high-value crops inside.”

Mr Borg said full-time and intensive farmers would also have had a lot of crops at this time of year as it tended to be a good time to put greenhouse crops on the market.

These farmers, he said, would effectively have to start from scratch:  “Their very livelihood has been threatened: they have woken up to find everything they’ve worked for over the last months completely gone.”

Insurance, Mr Borg added, was unlikely to go far in compensating for the damage, as insurance companies have said they do not have enough data to offer schemes to protect farmers.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday that Malta would be looking to tap EU solidarity funds to help alleviate the burden.

The...