At least four people were killed and hundreds of thousands were left without water or electricity as Cyclone Garance flooded parts of the island of Réunion, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, late last week, reports say. The cyclone made landfall on Feb. 28 on the northern side of the island, which lies east of Madagascar. Amid widespread flooding, authorities reported at least four people died after being caught in flash floods, mudslides and wind-related accidents. Wind speeds exceeded 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour), with gusts of 214 km/h (133 mph) at the island’s main airport. Garance is reportedly the strongest storm to hit Réunion since Tropical Cyclone Firinga in January 1989. More than 180,000 residents lost electricity and 310,000 were without water as a result of the storm. Nearly 1,000 people had to stay in temporary shelters. “This is the first time I’ve seen a cyclone this powerful, and also the first time I’ve been afraid,” Vincent Clain, a resident from the northern coast, told Agence France-Presse. He added he feared that uprooted trees in his garden would crash into his house. The French government reportedly sent 200 firefighters and aid workers from mainland France and Mayotte, another of its other territories in the Indian Ocean. Tarpaulins were also sent to the eastern part of the island to serve as makeshift shelter for the hardest hit. Last December, Mayotte was struck by Cyclone Chido, which left at least 40 people dead in what has been…This article was originally published on Mongabay
The post Thousands affected as cyclone floods Réunion Island in Indian Ocean first appeared on EnviroLink Network.