Threatened by the intense tropical cyclone baptized Freddy, Mauritius and Reunion are on alert, Monday, February 20. The French department was placed on orange alert on Sunday evening, “twenty-four hours before the cyclone passed closest to La Réunion”, according to the press release from the prefecture. All schools and nurseries are closed on Monday, and “likely Tuesday” too, the text adds. But the economic life of the island continues and travel remains authorized. The red alert level, prohibiting all movement and outings, “will be triggered according to the evolution of the situation”, specified the prefect.
If the cyclone should only pass near Reunion (about 200 kilometers from the coast), certain islands of the archipelago of Mauritius are under “direct threat”, warned Sunday evening the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth. He called on the population to “not be reckless” and “not to go out to sea, because the sea can be very bad”, urging residents to “take all their precautions” and “stay at home”.
Airport closed
Mauritius Meteorological Services (MMS) issued a Class 3 Cyclone Warning. gusts of wind up to 280 km/h in its center (against estimated 300 km/h previously). “Freddy continues to come dangerously close to Mauritius and poses a direct threat to the island,” the statement said, adding that Freddy’s approach could cause “a storm surge” and the “submersion of certain risk areas of the littoral “.
Mauritius International Airport was closed Monday from 7:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. Paris time), according to its website. In a statement, airport management “asked travelers not to proceed to the airport without obtaining a departure confirmation.”
About ten storms or cyclones cross the southwest Indian Ocean each year during the hurricane season, which runs from November to April.