Strong gusts and major flooding: the first effects of storm Fiona were felt overnight from Friday to Saturday September 17 in Guadeloupe, which was placed on red alert for heavy rains and thunderstorms. Two people are missing, according to the Sdis of Guadeloupe.
Storm Fiona, which formed in the central ocean on Thursday, “crossed the Guadeloupe archipelago in the evening, she is now in the Caribbean Sea and is heading towards Montserrat”a British island located 50 km north of Guadeloupe, said Météo-France in its midnight local time bulletin (6 a.m. in Paris).
#Fiona The heavy rains caused storms throughout the archipelago overnight.
1.Riviere des Pères in #Lowland (RS Video)@guadeloupela1e pic.twitter.com/OhhRoue5SG— Eric Stimpfling (@StimpflingEric) September 17, 2022
The municipalities of Basse-Terre, Les Saintes and Vieux-Habitants were affected by these storms and bad weather, which caused heavy flooding.
passage of the tropical storm #Fiona in #Guadeloupe. Flood in progress in the town of Vieux-Habitants. The Grande rivière came out of its bed and joined the national in the town. pic.twitter.com/mEUnVi8aEO
– GUSTAVE DIT DUFLO Sylvie (@DitGustave) September 17, 2022
passage of the tropical storm #Fiona in #Guadeloupe. Major flooding is underway in the territory. Here, the Baillif river which has come out of its bed and invaded the national. pic.twitter.com/dV6Zt0UQkP
– GUSTAVE DIT DUFLO Sylvie (@DitGustave) September 17, 2022
Several roads are temporarily closed to traffic due to weather conditions.
#Fiona
RN1 cut at the bottom of the Versailles coast #PetitBourg in the direction of Pointe à Pitre Basse-Terre @guadeloupela1e @RDGuadeloupe pic.twitter.com/Ps0eMuZR79— Eric Stimpfling (@StimpflingEric) September 17, 2022
All schools in Guadeloupe had closed on Friday at noon. All weekend activities – such as sports competitions or Heritage Days – have been canceled or postponed due to the arrival of the storm.
After Guadeloupe, it is the Greater Antilles that are seeing the Fiona threat become clearer: the American hurricane monitoring center (NHC), located in Miami, has declared that it is considering reclassifying the storm as a cyclone. “as it travels to Puerto Rico this late (Saturday) night and Sunday”then to Haiti early next week.