More fear than harm. Cyclone Emnati passed Reunion without causing major damage. The red hurricane alert was lifted on Monday in Reunion, thanks to weather conditions “less degraded than expected”, said the prefecture.
“The intense tropical cyclone Emnati is moving away from Reunion” and “the prefect has therefore decided to raise the red alert of the specific ORSEC Cyclone device”, according to the prefecture. And even if the weather conditions “remain degraded”, the population is “allowed to go out”.
Still strong winds
The system is now moving away from Reunion but is leaving strong winds and strong swells in its wake. Gusts reaching 163 km / h are recorded on the western heights of the island. Breaking waves sometimes 10 meters high hit the north and east coast. Intermittent rain is still expected during the day.
According to Météo-France, the weather conditions should start to improve on Monday at the end of the day. Monday morning, 28,000 homes are affected by water cuts and 7,000 homes were without electricity.
From cyclone to cyclone
Météo-France estimates that the deterioration in weather conditions is less significant than that observed for Batsirai. In early February, the passage of this intense cyclone near the island caused enormous damage, estimated at 47 million euros for farms alone.
Twenty municipalities in Reunion have been classified as being in a natural disaster situation and a Mauritian ship ran aground, causing the start of marine pollution. Operations to prevent it had to be halted upon Emnati’s arrival.