Laura Laplaud 11:10 a.m., January 15, 2024

The island of Reunion was placed on purple alert, the highest level, on Monday at 6 a.m. local time (3 a.m. in Paris), before going back to red alert to allow emergency services to intervene and assess the damage caused by Cyclone Belal, which arrived on the island in the morning.

The eye of Cyclone Belal arrived on Monday morning on the island of Reunion. The prefecture of this overseas department-region of 870,000 inhabitants triggered this Monday at 6 a.m. local time (3 a.m. in Paris) the purple cyclone alert, before going back to red alert to allow emergency services to intervene to assess the damage caused by the cyclone. What do these different alerts involve?

Four alert levels (green, yellow, orange, red) exist to warn of the approach of weather hazards such as high winds, snow-ice, thunderstorms, heat waves or extreme cold. When it comes to cyclones or hurricanes, there are two colors: purple and gray.

The purple alert, the highest level of weather vigilance

When a territory moves to the cyclone yellow pre-warning level, there is a potential threat in the coming days (more than 24 hours) but it does not imply any disruption of activity. The orange alert level identifies a danger within 24 hours and invites the population to prepare for a more or less violent weather phenomenon, while the red alert indicates an imminent danger (in the coming hours) and implies limiting travel as much as possible.

The purple cyclone warning is the highest level of weather alert, synonymous with "exceptional danger". This implies a strict lockdown of the entire population, including emergency and security services.

pic.twitter.com/jTiQdJonOD

— Prefect of Reunion Island (@Prefet974) January 15, 2024

During this phase, the authorities ask the population to respect the following instructions: do not go out under any circumstances, stay away from openings to avoid glass projections in case of breakage, remain calm and prepare for power and drinking water cuts.

The last level of alert, the gray alert, called "backup phase", can then be declared and reflects a threat "discarded" even if "there remain dangers," says the site of Météo-France.

Gusts up to 200 km/h, waves up to 12 metres high

With the purple alert, major impacts are expected: "destructive winds" up to more than 200 km / h on the highest peaks, "a big cyclonic swell" with average waves around 6 meters, the highest close to 10-12 meters and "very important rainfall accumulations" expected in the day, says Météo-France. In Reunion Island, the prefecture confirmed this Monday morning a first death, that of a homeless person who had not taken shelter.