The eye of tropical cyclone Belal hit the French island of Reunion on Monday, January 15, on maximum alert. The island’s population is confined while authorities fear wind gusts of 250 km/h and flooded rivers. The prefect of this department-region of the Indian Ocean of some 870,000 inhabitants has triggered the purple cyclone alert, the highest level, synonymous with “imminent danger”, at 6 a.m. (3 hours in Paris). Follow our live stream.
Maximum alert. Until further notice, Reunion Island is under strict confinement, including emergency and security services, which can no longer circulate.
Gusts of up to 250 km/h. “We measure winds of 215 km/h on the heights of the city of Saint-Paul”, testified the mayor of the city, Emmanuel Séraphin, shortly after 5 a.m. on franceinfo. At the height of the episode, Météo France forecast winds of more than 200 km/h on the coast and more than 250 km/h on the heights of the island.
There’s no “direct victim at this stage”according to the prefect of La Réunion. In total, “27,000 customers are already without electricity and 55,000 people are affected by preventive water cuts”, specifies the prefect. These numbers will increase, he warns.
Flood risks. The authorities are also “concerned about all waterways”for which a flood peak is expected late Monday morning, according to the prefect. “Be careful, stay at home. The State is mobilized at your side”wrote President Emmanuel Macron in a message posted on Sunday.