Cyclone Garance, a category 3 cyclone carrying gusts of up to 70 kilometers an hour, was on Thursday deemed a "direct threat" to the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and La Reunion, placing both countries on high alert and prompting a race to stockpile of essentials.

Three people have died in Reunion after Cyclone Garance swept through the French Indian Ocean territory with gusts of up to 234km/h (145mph). The tropical cyclone left more than 180,000 homes without power and 170,

At least three people died when cyclone Garance slammed into the French overseas territory of La Reunion on Friday with wind speeds of up to 155 kph (96 mph), Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said. The cyclone made landfall in the north of the Indian Ocean island,