"I've been through other cyclones, but this time the wind was very strong... Sabrina says over the phone. This teacher, now retired, has always lived in Reunion Island. The island was placed on purple and then red alert on Monday in the face of the passage of cyclone Belal. In Saint-Denis, in the north of the island where she lives, the pensioner, who remained confined to her home, described "very strong" gusts of wind and "waterspouts that fell all night non-stop!"
"It's the first time we've experienced such a situation," says Laurence, a regular tourist on the island, whom we met during the cyclone. We've never been locked up for so long." This manager of a guest house in France hexagonal arrived Thursday evening in Reunion Island for a few days of vacation with friends. "Until Sunday evening, we were still able to enjoy the lagoon. But since then, the situation has changed. What is surprising is the speed at which the cyclone is coming. We were told to fill a bathtub so we could have water to wash ourselves, if ever... ».
Read alsoReunion Island: one death, red alert, lockdown... update on the arrival of Cyclone Belal
Thousands of homes on the island were left without power. Many trees have been uprooted, roads flooded... But it's time for relief in Reunion Island. Cyclone Belal largely spared the Indian Ocean island, causing little major damage. After hitting the territory sharply from the northwest in the morning, the cyclone veered off course and eventually moved along its northeastern coast, without penetrating inland. However, the prefect of Reunion Island, Jérôme Filippini, has extended until Tuesday the red alert prohibiting residents from venturing outside. "Tuesday will not be a return to normal," he warned, while not all roads will be cleared. Especially since while Belal is moving away and continuing its journey towards Mauritius, where alert levels were raised on Monday, the winds continue to blow on the island.