File:Belal 2024-01-17 (MODIS).jpg

English: In January 2024, Tropical Cyclone Belal lashed Réunion and Mauritius, islands in the southwest Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, with torrential rain and flooding.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of the storm on January 14. Tropical Cyclone Belal strengthened that day to the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, carrying maximum sustained winds of at least 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour.

Belal made landfall over northwestern Réunion on the morning of January 15 bearing maximum sustained winds near 170 kilometers (105 miles) per hour. Mauritius, located 226 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of the French island of Réunion, was also hit by high winds and heavy rain as Belal’s center passed south of that island nation. According to news reports, authorities in Réunion issued the highest storm alert (purple); officials in Mauritius issued a level three cyclone warning, the second-highest alert of the island’s warning system. As of January 16, there have been two deaths and four injuries related to the storm, according to the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS).

After battering the islands, Tropical Cyclone Belal moved southeastward over open ocean, traveling away from Réunion and Mauritius. At 1500 UTC (10:00 a.m. EST) on January 16, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) advised that the storm was located about 339 miles (546 km) east-southeast of St. Denis, the administration capital of Réunion. St. Denis sits on the northern shore of the island and close to where Belal made landfall. The storm is facing increasingly difficult wind shear and is expected to continue to weaken over the next two to three days before it dissipates over the Indian Ocean.