SAINT-DENIS (dpa-AFX) – France is sending additional support to its island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean because of the cyclone “Belal”. Around 150 people from civil defense, the gendarmerie and the network operator Enedis should be sent to the overseas territory shortly, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Monday afternoon. According to the weather service Météo France, “Belal” was still near the island in the afternoon, but the eye of the storm was moving away from the southeastern coast.
During the storm, a homeless man died on the island, as the island’s prefect, Jérôme Filippini, said on BFMTV. The circumstances of death have not yet been clarified. Around 100,000 households on the island east of Madagascar were reportedly cut off from power on Monday. According to Filippini, 55,000 of the island’s 870,000 residents had no access to water because it was shut off locally as a precaution.