“Reunion is now placed in the cyclonic safeguard phase and in vigilance”, specified the prefecture, stressing that the population was “authorized to go out”.
The red hurricane alert was lifted Monday in Reunion, brushed by hurricane Emnati without major damage due to weather conditions “less degraded than expected”, said the prefecture.
The system is now moving away from Reunion but is leaving in its wake strong winds, intense rains and storms as well as a strong swell, which makes it impossible to reopen the coastal road, the main traffic axis between the north and the south. west of the island.
According to Météo-France, the weather conditions should start to improve on Monday at the end of the day.
Around noon (local time), 2,000 homes were still without electricity (against 7,000 in the early morning) and 3,400 subscribers suffered water cuts.
Schools are closed on Monday.
Météo-France estimates that the degradation of weather conditions is less significant than that observed for Batsirai.
In early February, the passage of this intense cyclone near Reunion caused enormous damage, estimated at 47 million euros for farms alone.
Twenty municipalities on the island have been classified as in a natural disaster situation and a Mauritian ship ran aground, causing the beginning of marine pollution. Operations to prevent it had to be halted upon Emnati’s arrival.
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