LIVE – Cyclone Belal: Reunion fears that it will “mark the history of the island”, the red alert triggered this Sunday

The red cyclone alert will be triggered at 8 p.m. (5 p.m. in Paris), announced the island’s prefect, calling on the population to confine themselves from the start of the evening. “I made the decision to trigger the red alert from 8 p.m.”, until “probably Tuesday morning”, indicated Jérôme Filippini, stressing that the situation “could evolve”. “Each and everyone will have to confine themselves to a safe place,” added the state representative in this department of some 870,000 inhabitants.

At 11 a.m. (8 a.m. in Paris), the Belal weather system was less than 300 kilometers north/northwest of the Reunion coast. “Belal is heading towards a cyclone that could mark the history of Reunion Island,” said Sébastien Langlade, head of forecasting at Météo-France Réunion, to AFP.

Reunion Island airport will be closed from 4 p.m. local time (1 p.m. in Paris) and until further notice, announced its operator as it approaches Belal, which “takes the path of a cyclone which could mark the ‘history’ of the island, according to Météo France.

“Flights for tomorrow (Monday) are canceled,” adds the international airport located in the commune of Sainte-Marie, in the north of the island.

Cyclone Belal should affect the island of Reunion on Monday, according to the specialized observatory Keraunos.

The island of Reunion, placed on pre-alert on Friday, is under the threat of an intense tropical cyclone on Sunday evening. Its passage is planned “between the end of the night from Sunday to Monday and Monday evening”. A threat “to be taken very seriously”, warned the prefect today.

Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the cyclone which threatens Reunion Island this weekend. Find here the evolution of the situation and the strong images of this bad weather.