The red cyclone alert will be in effect from 9 p.m. Sunday in Reunion where the inhabitants are called upon to confine themselves to the approach of a new cyclone, even if Emnati will pass more than 300 km north of the coast.
"Everyone must confine themselves from 9 p.m. (6 p.m. in mainland France) and until further notice" and "group together in the most protected room with all the basic necessities", declared the prefect Jacques Billant during a point of situation in the middle of the afternoon.
The municipalities have opened emergency accommodation centers and "no one should stay outside this (Sunday) evening", insisted the representative of the State who anticipates traffic conditions "particularly dangerous, especially at dawn".
Main traffic axis in the northwest of the island, the coastal road was closed in one direction and could be completely closed at 9 p.m.
The flights scheduled for Monday morning have been postponed and all schools will be closed for the day on Monday.
About 3,000 homes were without electricity on Sunday morning, and 1,500 were still in the afternoon, EDF services being on the ground to restore them, said the prefect.
“We have never experienced” two cyclones so close together
“Emnati continues to strengthen,” said local director of Météo-France Emmanuel Cloppet, describing an “intense tropical cyclone” located less than 400 km from the coast and which “will continue to slowly approach”.
If Emnati will remain "at a distance greater than 300 km" north of the coast, the cyclone "will cause a significant deterioration in weather conditions" with strong winds expected up to 120 km / h on the coast and 140 km / h at the interior of the island at night, said the meteorologist.
About 400 mm of rain has already fallen in the past 24 hours, he said, precipitation "admittedly less than that of Batsirai but significant".
In early February, the passage of this previous cyclone near the island caused enormous damage, estimated at 47 million euros for farms alone, before dramatically hitting Madagascar where 120 people died.
Twenty municipalities in Reunion 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.
“We have never known” two cyclones so close together, noted the prefect.
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