The purple alert was lifted on Monday January 15 on the island of Reunion, allowing emergency services to intervene and assess the damage from Cyclone Belal. The population of the department, which has returned to red alert, must always remain confined. “Nearly 150 civil security personnel, gendarmes as well as Enedis agents will arrive on site as soon as the airport reopens in the next few hours”, announced the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. Around 100,000 customers were without electricity at the start of the afternoon (Paris time), according to EDF. Follow our live stream.
A man found dead. The prefecture confirmed the death in Saint-Gilles (west) “of a homeless person who had not taken shelter” and had refused the emergency accommodation offered. According to the local gendarmerie, his body was found near the barracks, but the causes of death are not yet known.
Limited damage. The mayors of Port and La Possession, two towns in the northwest of the island, said no significant damage had been reported, but the rains had already caused several rivers to flood. “Fortunately, this is the least bad scenario that was written”, testifies Emmanuel Séraphin, the mayor of Saint-Paul, on franceinfo. In its commune located on the west coast of the island, there are “many trees lying on the roads” And “floods”.
A more favorable course than expected. After hitting Reunion Island from the north and west of the island, causing heavy rains and very violent gusts, the eye wall of the cyclone finally deviated its course towards the north without entering the interior of the island. lands. A change in trajectory “probably under the effect of the marked relief of the island”depending on the prefecture.
“We see the end of the tunnel, according to the prefect. Heavy rainfall and gusts continue to affect the island, while the eye of the cyclone is expected to remain in Reunion until the end of the afternoon. “We are not at all out of the cyclone, but we are below the cataclysmic character” initially feared, declared the prefect, Jérôme Filippini. “We see the end of the tunnel”he said, barring any unpleasant surprises “tonight or tomorrow morning”.