Cyclone Emnati moves away, red alert is lifted

It passed without major damage. The red hurricane alert was lifted on Monday, February 21, in Reunion, grazed by hurricane Emnati but with weather conditions “less degraded than expected”, according to the prefecture. But strong winds and a strong swell continue to beat down on the island. Gusts reaching 163 km/h have been recorded in the west and sometimes high breaking waves of ten meters hit in the north and east. Monday morning, 28,000 homes were affected by water cuts and 7,000 homes were without electricity.

If the system now moves away from Reunion, it leaves behind clouds with unconventional shapes, notes Réunion La 1ère. Intermittent rain is still expected during the day. According to Météo France, the weather conditions should start to improve on Monday at the end of the day. In spite ofe these meteorological conditions which “remain degraded”the population is “allowed to go out”reports the prefecture.

Météo France estimates that the degradation of weather conditions are less significant than those observed for Batsirai. In early February, the passage of this intense cyclone near the island caused enormous damage, estimated at 47 million euros for farms alone. About twenty municipalities had been classified in a situation of natural disaster and a Mauritian ship had run aground, causing the beginning of marine pollution.