Heavy rains, accompanied by lightning and hail, hit the island of Martinique, causing landslides and large-scale floods.
Bad weather swept the island on Monday, April 16. The municipalities
of Le Francois, Rivière-Pilot, Lamantine and Le Roberr suffered most
seriously as a result of difficult weather conditions.
According to Meteo France, in just six hours, 175 mm of precipitation
fell on the municipality of Saint-Joseph, 160 mm of precipitation fell
in Le Robere, and 250 mm of rain in Le Francois.
Many roads were closed, power failures were observed, schools were
not working. At the height of the storm, around 9,000 people remained
without light. At the same time, there were no reports of casualties and
injuries.
Local media reported that about 1.2 thousand pupils and teachers were
trapped in a school building that was surrounded by flood water. Some
of them could be evacuated to a nearby public building. All were able to
return to their homes later in the evening when the flood receded.
The Martinique government reported that more than 200 firefighters,
police officers and two helicopters were mobilized to assist the
victims.
Tags
Natural catastrophe