We have come through vigilence cyclonique (a cautionary advisory), alerte orange (danger imminent in 24 hours, schools close), alerte rouge (red alert-the worst will be here within 3 hours. this means get in your house and button up!), prudence cyclonique (post-red alert, getting better but stay put, schools closed, flooding, no water or power, etc.). After a day of prudence cyclonique, la Réunion has been put back on alerte orange; many (including myself) believe we shoud never have been taken from alerte rouge.
Cyclone Gamède is very big and very powerful, is causing a lot of destruction, and is not going anywhere very quickly.
It's strange, though, because from all the news footage of hurriccanes in the US I totally expected howling winds, trees blowing everywhere, houses shaking, etc. The winds up in Golden Gate Canyon in Colorado were much more intense than these winds! But then again, I am in a solid (albeit leaking) cement house up in the hills of Saint Denis, so I could be out of the worst of the winds, but still...
This is not to say that it is not windy or intense. I have never been in a storm quite like this- it has rained HARD for 5 days non-stop (not like in Oregon, much harder), it is constantly windy, there are leaves everywhere, our balconies are flooding, our ceiling is leaking this wierd pink water, we can't drink the water from the tap, we can see trees (tropical trees like banana trees with supple trunks, not baobabs or sequoias) leaning over or grounded, big highway bridges in the south are washed out, a dredging dock in St Denis was washed away by 10m high waves, and the Route Littoral is a mess.
We're still holding up well in the house. We're not at each others' throats, we're not cranky, and while we're not sleeping a ton, we're okay. It would be nice to get out to go to the grocery store... Our landlords have come over three times to make sure we're okay and that the house is holding up. They saved our power by untangling a branch that had downed our power line. We have closed the shutters but it gets so stale in here that we open a door or two for circulation. SEE?!?! It's bad but it's not THAT bad.
The images here are not intended to scare you- indeed they are to assure you that people are out taking these photos therefore everything is/will be okay. Think of it as a science lesson. Besides, it's always kind of melodramatic to see destruction footage.
As far as I know there have been a few injuries but no deaths. Here are a few websites that we use here to get information. It was pointed out to me that they are in French... sorry, that didn't really occur to me. If you don't want to brave the en français webpages, try googling it.
http://www.meteo.fr/temps/domtom/La_Reunion/TGPR/saison/saison_trajGP.html
http://www.meteo-reunion.com/cyclone/
http://www.orange.fr/
Oh Katie! I love you!! I have been eagerly checking on this weather of yours since receiving your email. I am happy to hear you are ok. I will continue to pray for your safety. Needless to say, it has been raining in Oregon for 3 days. It was rain accompanied by wind today, however this piddles in comparision to a hurricane! Keep safe!
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