Strong Tropical Storm Eleanor is moving away from Mauritius. The twelfth cyclonic bulletin for Mauritius, issued at 4:10pm on Thursday 22 February 2024, announces the lifting of Cyclone Warning Class 3.
At 4pm, the centre of strong tropical storm Eleanor was located around 130 km almost south-southeast of Blue Bay, at 21.4 degrees south latitude and 58.4 degrees east longitude. Eleanor passed its closest point to Mauritius, i.e., approximately 65 km from Belle Mare, at around 12:30 pm.
More fear than harm. Eleanor did not cause as much damage as Belal.
Firefighters responded to 30 emergencies between 4.10am, when the Cyclone Warning Class 3 was issued, and 2pm on Thursday 22 February, Firefighters were mainly mobilized to evacuate water and clear roads following tree falls in various areas.
Once the Cyclone Warning Class 3 was lifted, the airport reopened, and flights resumed as normal. This was explained by Air Mauritius Communications Manager, Atma Bumma. Air Mauritius has rescheduled its flights and the new schedule has been published on its website.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre, “a comprehensive evaluation of major roads and critical infrastructure has been conducted by the authorities.” The authorities has approved the removal of the safety advisory as they are confident that there is no longer any risk to the public. All main roads except that of Bras d’Eau, are usable.
The weather will remain cloudy with showers, at times moderate with isolated thunderstorms. Scattered fog is expected over higher ground this evening and tomorrow morning.
No school this Friday
Schools remain closed this Friday, February 23. The Ministry of Education has confirmed the information and issued a statement explaining that this Friday, following the passage of cyclone Eleanor, cleaning up is the order of the day.
About four hundred people took shelter in community centres
Shelters opened their doors as soon as the Cyclone Warning Class 3 was issued. There are 410 individuals who have sought safety in 16 evacuation centres located throughout the nation. With 147 participants, the Roche-Bois Social Welfare Centre had the highest total. 140 people evacuated their homes to take refuge in the community centre. In other places, people also had to leave their homes to seek shelter. For the moment, the numbers are very limited. Note that plans have been put in place to ensure that meals will be provided.
Around 10,000 homes suffered disruption in their electricity supply
Eleanor has caused major disruptions to the electricity supply, with nearly 10, 000 homes without electricity yesterday. However, the Central Electricity Board’s technicians were working hard to restore electricity supply to the affected regions, as quickly as possible, said Thierry Ramasawmy, CEB communications manager.
At 2pm, there were about 1,060 homes without electricity. The region’s most hit by the power cuts were the South-East and the North, with 225 and 500 homes affected respectively.
The regions affected are Crève Coeur, Terre Rouge, Arsenal, les Cascades, Calebasses, Pamplemousses, Khoyratty, Bois Pignolet, Notre Dame and Camp Laboue.
Some places in the centre of the island such as La Vigie, Forest Side, Rose-Belle, Union Park and Nouvelle France were also affected.
It should be noted that repairs will take longer in places, such as Quatre Soeurs, Grand Sable, Deux Frères and Pointe aux Feuilles, where electric poles were either down or broken.
The situation is well monitored, stated Thierry Ramasawmy who also explained that the 130 hotline will be available. Requests can also be made via the MoKouran application, among others.
