Reunion is placed on purple alert, synonymous with “exceptional danger” this Monday, January 15 as cyclone Belal passes over the island in the Indian Ocean. All residents and emergency services are strictly confined.
Tropical cyclone Belal passes over Reunion Island. The island in the Indian Ocean has been placed on purple alert, the maximum level of vigilance, since 6 a.m. (3 a.m. in Paris) this Monday, January 15. The island’s 870,000 inhabitants have been called for strict confinement since Sunday evening and until Tuesday morning by the prefect of Reunion. No travel is allowed, even authorities or rescue forces are not allowed to intervene while the purple alert is active.
The winds have been gaining in intensity for several hours in Reunion Island, they are already reaching and exceeding 200 km/h: “We measure winds of 215 km/h on the heights of the city of Saint-Paul” indicated the mayor of the city, Emmanuel Séraphin, around 5 a.m. this morning on franceinfo. Météo France expects gusts of more than 200 km/h on the coast and more than 250 km/h on the heights of the island, at the height of the event. In addition to the winds, heavy rains raise fears of flooding risks for many rivers.
Cyclone Belal has not yet caused “any direct victims” according to the prefect of Reunion Island, but the consequences of the violent weather are already significant: 27,000 people are already without electricity and 55,000 are affected by power outages. preventive water according to the prefect who expects to see these figures increase in the coming hours.