People on France's Indian Ocean island of Réunion have been warned to stock up on essential supplies and prepare to stay indoors as a powerful cyclone barrels in.
Réunion will be on red alert from 8pm local time on Sunday until most likely Tuesday morning, the French department's prefect, Jérôme Filippini, told a press conference.
"Everyone must stay inside in a safe place," he said.
The cyclone, dubbed Belal, is expected to reach the island overnight on Sunday and into Monday.
National weather service Météo France warns it could be "very dangerous", bringing winds of between 200 and 250 kilometres an hour as well as an ocean surge up to 15 metres high. Heavy rains are set to follow too.
Belal, which went from a tropical storm to a cyclone late on Saturday, has been gathering strength for several days and now looks likely to hit Réunion directly, the forecaster said.
🟠Alerte cyclonique orange à La Réunion.
— Météo-France (@meteofrance) January 13, 2024
🌀La tempête tropicale #Belal se rapproche et s'intensifie.
➡️Des vents violents, de fortes pluies et une houle cyclonique sont attendus, principalement durant toute la journée de lundi.
Plus d'informations👉https://t.co/gS9Kb1ryrh pic.twitter.com/yrjxffA866
Authorities have warned the island's 870,000 residents to make sure they have food, water and first-aid supplies for several hours, or even several days.
Coastal roads were closed to traffic on Sunday afternoon and the airport was also shut, with all flights for Monday cancelled.
Belal is the strongest storm so far of the region's cyclone season, which began in November and will last until the end of April.
Réunion has not been struck by a storm of this magnitude since January 2014, when Cyclone Bejisa battered the island with torrential rain and powerful gusts.
One person died and several others were injured by the cyclone, which cut off power to more than 100,000 households and left nearly half the island's residents without running water. The losses to Réunion's farmers were estimated at more than €60 million.
