Tropical Cyclone Garance hit the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion, bringing heavy rain and winds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph) that caused floods and damage to buildings

Tropical cyclone Garance made landfall on the French Indian Ocean territory of Réunion on Friday, packing gusts of 166 kilometers (103 miles) per hour.

Tropical cyclone Garance intensifies as it approaches Reunion Island, prompting severe weather warnings, while tropical storm Honde poses additional threats to Madagascar.

Winds of up to 230 kilometers per hour battered the French Indian Ocean territory of 900,000 people. The storm earlier forced the closure of the main airport on nearby Mauritius

Cyclone Garance, a category 3 cyclone carrying gusts of up to 200 kilometers per hour winds, was on Friday deemed a "direct threat" to the Indian Ocean island La Reunion, placing it under "purple alert",

"In the face of cyclone Garance, I call on our fellow citizens in Reunion to be extremely vigilant and to respect safety instructions," Macron wrote in a post on social media platform X. "The state is at your side and our forces are mobilised.

Cyclone Garance slammed into the French overseas territory of La Reunion with top wind speeds of 155 kph (96 mph) on Friday, blowing away roofs and cutting power and access to drinking water for many residents.