Tropical storm Bret is moving away from Martinique this Friday, after causing the sinking of a catamaran south-east of the coast of the French island and depriving 25,000 homes of electricity.
Quite impressive gusts. Martinique went down a level of meteorological vigilance, going from red to orange this Friday. Tropical storm Bret is moving away from the coast of the island of the Lesser Antilles, off which a catamaran was wrecked at the height of the cyclonic phenomenon, the prefecture said.
This boat experienced a misadventure in the south-east of Martinique, 100 kilometers from the coast. According to local radio RCI, which cites messages received by VHF (editor’s note, VHF radio makes it possible, in the event of distress at sea, to broadcast information to all ships in the area, to learn of a request for assistance from another navigator or to receive weather reports), four people were on board this catamaran. They took refuge in a survival craft.
The Regional Operational Center for Surveillance and Rescue (Cross) Antilles-Guyane is in charge of research and “all available means are implemented to provide them with assistance”, underlined the prefecture. Hollows reached up to 10 meters high in the area of the sinking, according to Météo-France.
“Gradual improvement”
Since this Thursday at the end of the day, 25,000 homes in 14 Martinican municipalities have been without electricity. The firefighters carried out “28 minor interventions for falling trees and electric poles” between midnight and 5:30 a.m. local time (6 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in Paris). The damage recorded on the territory was mainly caused by strong gusts of wind in the second part of the night (Thursday to Friday). Gusts of 100 to 140 km/h were recorded by the meteorological services.
According to the weather report released at 6 a.m. local time, the winds were blowing Friday morning at around 45 km / h. But cumulative rain could still reach 100 to 120 mm, and even 150 mm locally.
“A gradual improvement is expected from the beginning of the afternoon,” said the Martinique prefecture, as the storm moved away from the island and was 180 km west of its coast. .
In 2007, Martinique was the island of the French West Indies most affected by Hurricane Dean. Two people had lost their lives and some 400 families had been left homeless.
