Europe 1 with AFP 1:59 p.m., September 17, 2022

Sixth tropical system of the season in the Atlantic basin, storm Fiona, which formed Thursday in the center of the ocean, "crossed the Guadeloupe archipelago in the evening, it is now in the Caribbean Sea and is heading towards Montserrat", a British island located 50 km north of Guadeloupe, said Météo-France in its bulletin.

Strong gusts and major flooding: the first effects of storm Fiona were felt overnight from Friday to Saturday in Guadeloupe, placed on red alert for heavy rains and thunderstorms.

The inhabitants of Anse-Bertrand saw it very closely since its center, moving from east to west, hit the northern tip of the archipelago.

Sixth tropical system of the season in the Atlantic basin, storm Fiona, which formed Thursday in the center of the ocean, "crossed the Guadeloupe archipelago in the evening, it is now in the Caribbean Sea and is heading towards Montserrat", a British island located 50 km north of Guadeloupe, said Météo-France in its bulletin at 00:00 local time (06:00 in Paris).

If Fiona "continues to evacuate slowly" towards the west and the Caribbean Sea this Saturday, Guadeloupeans are not done with her, warns Météo-France: the heavy rains "should continue throughout the north of the Petites West Indies over the next 18 hours".

A month of rain

The latest report from Météo-France indicated up to 181 mm of rain in 24 hours in Basse-Terre, the equivalent of more than a month of rain.

In the evening, some roads were already waterlogged, especially in Basse-Terre, some municipalities of which have already suffered major flooding, according to images published by residents on social networks.

In Lamentin (Basse-Terre), an AFP journalist was able to observe torrential rains without stopping since 10 p.m., very strong thunderstorms which still persisted at 5 a.m. (11 a.m. in Paris) in a lesser intensity.

#VigilanceRouge#Guadeloupe for heavy rains and thunderstorms


Tropical storm #Fiona gives rains of exceptional intensity and duration have been falling for several hours on Guadeloupe.



⚠️Be very careful and stay informed https://t.co/I8Fk5mrqvApic.twitter.com/rcPdZpQWev

— Meteo-France (@meteofrance) September 17, 2022

In South Basse-Terre, flooded homes were evacuated during the night in the communes of Basse-Terre, Baillif and Vieux Habitant, we learned from a prefectural source.

On Grande-Terre, the other major island, the Pointe-à-Pitre area is also affected by significant accumulations, with up to 122 mm of rain measured in 24 hours.

Several shelters have been opened throughout the archipelago.

Some business owners said on Facebook that they saw their premises flooded and some residents said that they saw water entering their homes.

Marie M., a resident of Gosier (Grande-Terre) in her thirties, told AFP that she was "woken around 3 a.m. by thunder and lightning" and was "very afraid for her house, currently under renovation.

Some residents testified to power cuts or Internet network cuts.

Guadeloupe is still on red alert for heavy rains and thunderstorms and orange alert for vague submersion and violent wind.

The archipelago at a standstill

Friday evening, the prefect Alexandre Rochette had asked Guadeloupeans to avoid "all trips" and that everyone stay at home "to avoid risks being taken".

Roads have been closed to traffic since 7:00 p.m. to avoid accidents.

Gusty winds were expected "up to 100/120 km / h" in Guadeloupe overnight and many heavy and stormy showers were expected until midday.

Suspended from 7:00 p.m. Friday evening until Saturday 12:00 p.m., air traffic will only resume depending on weather conditions, authorities have warned. All schools in Guadeloupe had closed as of Friday at noon.

All weekend activities - such as sports competitions or Heritage Days - have been canceled or postponed due to the arrival of the storm.

September 16 is the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, a category 5 hurricane that devastated the island in 1989.

After Guadeloupe, it is the Greater Antilles that see the Fiona threat becoming clearer: the American hurricane monitoring center (NHC), located in Miami, has indicated that it is considering reclassifying the storm as a cyclone "as it moves towards Porto Rico this (Saturday) evening late and Sunday", then to Haiti at the beginning of next week.