Fishermen boats are seen safely brought ashore to protet them from the high seas in Mahebourg, a small fishing villae, on February 2, 2022. – The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius was bracing itself Wednesday for a cyclone threatening to batter the holiday paradise, weather authorities said. Tropical cyclone Batsirai was approaching Mauritius with winds speeds of 120 kilometres an hour, with peaks of 151 kilometres recorded in the capital Port Louis.
Life was brought to a standstill, with public transport cancelled, shops and banks shut, and air and sea travel halted. The reopening of schools, closed since November because of the spread of the Covid variant Omicron, could not take place as planned. The French island of Reunion, which lies about 230 kilometres southwest of Mauritius, was on red alert for the likely passage of cyclone Batsirai overnight.