Gusts of up to 130 km/h: tropical storm Garance approaches Reunion Island

Strong winds gradually approaching the coast. As Météo France indicates in a bulletin on Wednesday, February 26, tropical storm Garance , which is currently just over 400 kilometers from the Reunion coast, "continues to intensify and reached the stage of a strong tropical storm late last night."

According to the meteorological institute, at sea and during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the maximum winds averaged over 10 minutes were recorded at 95 km/h. Still at sea, gusts of 130 km/h were also noted.

The French department will also be placed on orange cyclone alert on Wednesday from 2 p.m., as the storm could intensify to cyclone status, the prefecture of the French island in the Indian Ocean announced on Tuesday.

This alert level, the second of four in the cyclone system, means that a meteorological phenomenon represents a danger for the island within 24 hours.

"Garance should benefit from environmental conditions favorable to its development by Thursday. It is expected that it will reach the stage of tropical cyclone by the night of Wednesday to Thursday," we also learned from Météo France.

A deterioration in weather conditions is expected from Wednesday in Reunion Island, which is frequently hit by cyclones. Garance is expected to pass closest to the island "on Thursday during the day or night", about 70 km from the coast, possibly at the stage of a tropical cyclone, according to Céline Jauffret, interregional director of Météo-France for the Indian Ocean, who discussed the subject at a press conference on Tuesday.

A move to red alert is not excluded, the prefecture of La Réunion specified. This alert level imposes a total confinement of the population, with the exception of emergency services and law enforcement.

Garance is "small in size," which limits the area of ​​dangerous weather, Jauffret explained. "However, these systems can evolve quickly," she warned.

On orange alert, economic life continues, but all schools will close on Wednesday afternoon . "Classes will continue on Wednesday morning, and school transport will be provided until the end of the day," said Laurent Lenoble, secretary general of the prefecture.

"There is a high probability that schools will remain closed until Friday," he added.

Port activity will be suspended on land and at sea on Wednesday. The international airport has announced changes to its flight schedule for Wednesday and Thursday.

Garance is following an unusual trajectory, moving from west to east, while cyclonic phenomena generally circulate from east to west in this area of ​​the Indian Ocean, meteorologists noted.

The last cyclone alert in Reunion dates back to January 2024. The island was then placed on purple alert, the maximum level prohibiting all movement including for law enforcement and emergency services.

Cyclone Belal brushed the coast on January 15, causing the death of four people and damage estimated at 100 million euros, according to France Assureurs.