30th post - the cyclone

In the meantime I was able to experience my first cyclone here - and then a historically strong one! Cyclone Belel swept over our island at speeds of up to 250 km/h and caused quite a bit of damage.

We already prepared for the weather event on Saturday: We bought water and candles because there could be power and water outages. We also pre-cooked pasta and prepared snacks that don't need to be heated.

On Sunday we continued preparing the house. We cleared away everything that was outside - tables, chairs, garbage cans, laundry,... Then we turned off the pool's electricity so that the pump wouldn't break.

The red alert was in effect from 8 p.m. This means you should no longer leave the house, go to emergency accommodation if necessary and no longer drive a car. Making phone calls was also forbidden because the lines had to remain clear for emergencies.

At exactly 8 p.m. it actually started to rain and a few hours later you could see the first impressive pictures on Facebook:

However, you also have to say that anyone who goes to the seashore during a cyclone may have a bit of their own fault.

However, the cyclone also brings a really beautiful thing, namely beautiful cloud formations and sunsets.

We spent the evening watching series and looking forward to the real start of the hurricane, because that's a little exciting after all.

When we went to sleep around midnight we decided to spend the night together in what we thought was the safest room in the house. The corrugated iron roof didn't seem so safe to us :D

During the night it really went down: the rain was pounding incredibly loudly on the sheet metal and it was constantly making a stupid noise when a tree fell over or other objects hit our roof.

At around 7am on Monday we went to purple alert, the first time in the history of Reunion Island! At this alert level, rescue workers are no longer allowed to deploy and direct help is no longer guaranteed.

It really didn't get any better, the wind was super strong and the rain just didn't stop. Until suddenly: complete silence. No leaf moved anymore. We were now exactly in the eye of the cyclone. Tricky, because you really think it's over. However, we use the time to briefly assess the damage in front of our house...

Around 3 p.m. the wind picked up again and it rained again, but by evening it was finally over and we all had a lot to talk about!

Unfortunately, the hurricane also claimed human lives here, but how many are not yet clear. Hundreds of thousands were without power and water and emergency shelters were full.

Bon cyclone.