The tropical depression has been approaching the archipelago for several days and is expected to develop in the coming hours, according to Météo-France.
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Maximum alert. Guadeloupe will be placed on red alert for heavy rain and storms starting at 6 p.m. on Monday, August 12 (Tuesday at midnight in Paris), the prefecture announced in a press release, which decided to close some roads prone to landslides and ordered municipalities to open safe shelters to protect populations in flood-prone areas from rising waters. The weather phenomenon, a tropical depression, has been approaching the archipelago for several days and is expected to develop in the coming hours, according to Météo-France.
“The most likely scenario at the moment is that a cyclonic phenomenon will become a tropical storm late tonight.”whose rain and storm activity will be “particularly monitored”announced the prefecture a little earlier, when the orange alert was changed. The first storms and rain are expected during the night from Monday to Tuesday, persisting during the day on Tuesday in the form of rain. “durable and intense” before gradually easing until Wednesday. Wind gusts of up to 100 km/h are also possible.
“Accumulations of the order of 100 to 150 mm in 24 hours, or even 200 to 300 mm on the relief” are expected in the archipelago, and “floods, heavy runoff and even landslides are to be feared”underlines the prefecture.
The island of Saint-Martin, approximately 250 kilometers northwest of Guadeloupe, was placed on yellow cyclone alert from Sunday evening and the Departmental Operations Center (COD) was activated Monday morning by the prefecture. “Even if it is not a dramatic phenomenon, it must be taken seriously”insisted Vincent Berton, prefect of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, during a press conference. “Air and sea transport could be impacted on Tuesday, as could the distribution of water and electricity,” he added. Weather forecasts predict up to 100 mm of rainfall and a swell with five-metre troughs are expected on the island, which was devastated in 2017 by Hurricane Irma.
