Threatened by a very intense cyclone, the island spends Sunday evening on orange alert

Vigilance is key. Threatened by the very intense cyclone Freddy, Reunion Island will be placed on cyclonic orange alert on Sunday from 4 p.m., announced the prefect of this French department in the Indian Ocean, Jérome Filippini.

All schools, from nurseries to universities, will remain closed on Monday and “probably Tuesday” as well, adds the text. But the economic life of the island continues and travel remains authorized. The red alert level prohibiting any movement and outings “will be triggered according to the evolution of the situation”, specified the representative of the State during a press briefing held at midday.

The most critical night from Monday to Tuesday

Generating winds gusting to 310 km / h near the center, Freddy was located at the end of the morning, 1,125 km northeast of the Reunion coast. It is heading at 24 km/h along a westerly trajectory which brings it closer to the island.

According to Météo-France, the “powerful and compact” system will pass as close as possible to Reunion on the night of Monday to Tuesday. “The center (of the system) will then be about 200 km from the coast of Reunion,” said Emmanuel Cloppet, director of Météo-France, during the press briefing.

Strong winds and large swell expected

The proximity of the intense cyclone should cause “a rapid and significant deterioration in weather conditions” from Monday evening, forecasts Météo-France. The bad weather conditions will reach their climax in the night from Monday to Tuesday, with strong winds and a large swell.

“But the system is moving quickly, conditions should improve on Tuesday morning,” said Emmanuel Cloppet. At this stage “any direct impact of Freddy on the island is excluded, which is fortunate, because it would have had an impact never before known to date”, specified the meteorologist. Reunion “is going to be confronted with a phenomenon of high intensity. It could have been extremely serious”, if the eye had passed on the island, commented the prefect.

Freddy is the first very intense cyclone to threaten inhabited land in the southwestern Indian Ocean basin since March 2004 and the passage of Gafilo.

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