After the passage of cyclone Belal this year, Freddy in 2023 and Batsirai in 2022, State services work with communities, businesses and associations with the direct impact on the island of a very intense tropical cyclone. This was the purpose of the Cyclonex seminar, implemented by the prefecture in November 2022, which met for the third time on November 14.
State services, civil security, armed forces, companies in charge of water and electricity distribution, companies, associations and even journalists : this third day of presentations, of testimonies and exchanges brought together 350 participants. She started with the forecasts for the next season from Météo France (9 to 13 storms and cyclones expected). A progress report was made on the actions undertaken following the passage of Belal. Then the seminar tackled the hardest part : the work of anticipation, in all areas, to cope with the impact of a very intense cyclone which would devastate the island. The first observation, in view of the importance of the public, it is that the fear that Reunion Island will have to face such an ordeal is now in the back of everyone's minds. The testimony of a civil security officer who experienced cyclone Irma on the island of Saint-Martin in 2017, with peak winds up to 400 km/h, echoed in a dramatically silent room. Just as the evocation, on the Caribbean island, from the trauma of looting, including between neighbors, in the aftermath of the disaster, shattering the illusion of a social surge of solidarity in the ordeal.
Prepare for the worst
It is, from different angles, of a sort of state of war which was discussed. What would happen the day after a major cyclone hits?, what to do, who would decide and do what, what to prepare before your visit, how to organize first aid, during and after, etc. ? Crisis management, transmission, health support for vulnerable people, means of intervention, restoration of networks, alert system (with the announced end of the poorly understood yellow pre-alert), etc. The seminar raised awareness, not only the seriousness of such a situation, but considerable work that must be undertaken upstream. In particular, an appeal was launched to companies, starting with mass distribution, so that they take a serious look at the problem.
