Tropical Storm Brett: A catamaran dives off Martinique

Tropical storm Bret is moving away from Martinique on Friday, after it caused a catamaran to sink southeast of the coast of the French island and deprived 25,000 homes of electricity.

Very impressive giveaways. The alert level decreased in Martinique, going from red to orange on Friday. Tropical Storm Brett is moving away from the coast of the Lesser Antilles island, where a catamaran was wrecked at the height of the hurricane phenomenon, the prefecture said.

This boat had an adventure in the southeast of Martinique, 100 km from the coast. According to RCI Local Radio, which cites messages received by VHF (note, radio very high frequency Allows in the event of distress at sea, to broadcast information to all ships in the area, to take note of the request for help from another navigator or to receive weather reports), four people were on board this vessel. They took refuge in a lifeboat.

The province confirmed that the Regional Operations Center for Surveillance and Rescue (Trans) Antilles-Gayen is responsible for the search and “all available means are being implemented to provide them with assistance.” The hollows reached heights of up to 10 meters in the area of ​​the sinking, according to Météo-France.

“gradual improvement”

Since Thursday at the end of the day, 25,000 homes in 14 Martinique communes have had no electricity. Firefighters carried out “28 minor interventions to fallen trees and electricity poles” between midnight and 5:30 am local time (6 am and 11:30 am in Paris). The damage in the area was mainly caused by strong winds in the second part of the night (from Thursday to Friday). Meteorological services recorded gusts from 100 to 140 km/h.

According to the weather report issued at 6 a.m. local time, the wind was blowing at around 45 km/h on Friday morning. But cumulative precipitation can still reach 100 to 120 mm, and up to 150 mm locally.

“A gradual improvement is expected from the beginning of the afternoon,” said the prefecture of Martinique, as the storm moved away from the island and was 180 km west of its coast.

In 2007, Martinique was the French West Indies island hardest hit by Hurricane Dean. Two people died and about 400 families were left homeless.