The French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, which hosts a set of Galileo remote antennas (TTCF, ULS and GSS), was battered last thursday 2 January by tropical cyclone Bejisa with winds up to 200 kilometres per hour. Fortunately the Galileo site and antennas did not suffer any damage at all.

However, the aftermath on the rest of the island, was not so positive: fallen trees, tangled power lines, debris, water everywhere, etc.

15 people were seriously injured and around 82,000 homes suffered power cuts. The storm swept past the eastern side of the island, as close as 15 kilometres to the coast that caused waves up to eight meters. Almost a quarter of the island’s 0.8 million inhabitants also had their water cut.

The Roland Garros airport was also closed and postal and other services suspended.