{"id":38514,"date":"2024-01-15T11:25:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T11:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits"},"modified":"2024-01-15T12:53:56","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T12:53:56","slug":"reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits","title":{"rendered":"Reunion Island on highest alert as major storm hits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Seychelles. <\/strong><\/span>Residents on France’s Reunion Island were confined to their homes early Monday, as the authorities issued the highest alert for what they said could become a devastating tropical storm.<\/p>\n

The Violet-Level alert, which comes into force at 6:00 am (0200 GMT) means all people on the island, including the emergency services, should observe a strick lockdown.<\/p>\n

“All circulation is formally prohibited for any reason whatsoever, and until further notice,” the official statement added.<\/p>\n

Authorities urged residents of the island in the Indian Ocean to stock up on food and water and stay indoors for 36 hours.<\/p>\n

Many balconies and gardens had been cleared of any objects that could be carried away or broken, and shopkeepers took in removable signs.<\/p>\n

The tropical storm, dubbed Belal, which by Sunday afternoon was 200 kilometres north-west of Reunion, could become an “intense tropical cyclone” Monday as it passes over the island or its immediate vicinity.<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron took to social media on Sunday to urge the island’s 870,000 residents to stay indoors. “Be careful, stay at home,” he said on X.<\/p>\n

The last major cyclone to hit Reunion was in 2014.<\/p>\n

But speaking about the dangers of the current storm, authorities evoked Jenny, a deadly cyclone that battered Reunion in 1962.<\/p>\n

– ‘Devastating winds’ –<\/p>\n

“We are not going to play heroes, we were told to stay at home,” said Jules Dafreville, who lives in the capital Saint-Denis.<\/p>\n

“I returned in the middle of the afternoon and I don’t plan to come out before the red alert is lifted on Tuesday morning.”<\/p>\n

The island’s main airport said it was suspending flight operations.<\/p>\n

The Meteo France weather service warned that winds could exceed 200 km\/h on the coast and 250 km\/h or more in the highlands.<\/p>\n

“These are destructive and devastating winds that could cause major damage”, said Sebastien Langlade, head of forecasting at Meteo France Reunion.<\/p>\n

Six emergency health centres were set up for people requiring treatment, in addition to the 142 accommodation centres across the country for people to use in the event of flooding.<\/p>\n

Olivier Blondet, manager of two restaurants and a nightclub in Saint-Denis, prepared his three establishments for the worst.<\/p>\n

He fixed the sofa on his terrace to the railings and removed blunt objects, he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re trying to make sure there’s absolutely nothing that can come off the ground and be thrown onto the windows or walls,” he said on BFMTV.<\/p>\n

In Saint-Denis, around twenty homeless people were taken to a shelter.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Seychelles<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Seychelles. Residents on France’s Reunion Island were confined to their homes early Monday, as the authorities issued the highest alert for what they said could become a devastating tropical storm. The Violet-Level alert, which comes into force at 6:00 am (0200 GMT) means all people on the island, including the emergency services, should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":38513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234,268,233],"class_list":["post-38514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-seychelles","tag-seychelles"],"yoast_head":"\nReunion Island on highest alert as major storm hits - Seychelles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Residents on France's Reunion Island were confined to their homes early Monday, as the authorities issued the highest al ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reunion Island on highest alert as major storm hits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Residents on France's Reunion Island were confined to their homes early Monday, as the authorities issued the highest al ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Seychelles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-15T11:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-15T12:53:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/sites\/30\/2024\/01\/sm_1705306651.59251.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"980\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"551\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Reunion Island on highest alert as major storm hits\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-15T11:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-15T12:53:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/sites\/30\/2024\/01\/sm_1705306651.59251.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Seychelles\",\"Seychelles\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/seychelles\/all-news\/reunion-island-on-highest-alert-as-major-storm-hits\",\"name\":\"Reunion Island on highest alert as major storm hits - 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