After the torrential rainfall warning issued at 10am, authorities have decided to close the educational institutions of the island. However, it was already too late. I personally witnessed students walking to their respective schools, drenched from head to toe. How could they protect themselves in this heavy rainfall? Umbrellas and raincoats were definitely not of great help in some cases. Several roads in the island were not practicable, and some cars were even caught in floods.
Figures from the Mauritius Meteorological Services :
Rainfall recorded from 07 March at 04oo hours to 0900 hours local time are as follows:
Providence: 130 mm
Pamplemousses: 109 mm
Nouvelle Decouverte: 133 mm
Mon Loisir Rouillard: 92 mm
Trou aux Cerfs: 73 mm
I have the impression that the authorities cracked down under the pressure exerted by the media, the private radios in particular. Radio Plus for example, changed its schedule completely, dedicating all the time and resources to cover and inform the population about the heavy rainfall and also, report problems to the authorities.
You surely remember that a student lost her life on her way back home in 2008, and of course, the exceptional speech of the former Minister of Education, Dharam Gokhool who said, I quote : “Nou éna 350 000 zélev dan nou bann lékol, sé maléré ki enn inn perdi so lavi.” However, the he defended himself by saying that he was unable to finish his sentence since he was interrupted by journalists…
Issuing the warning at 10am is itself a fail in the system, as well as the need to wait for 100mm of rain. All students are already in their respective institutions, and parents at work. If this same alert was issued some hours earlier, it would have avoided the panic in the transport system and also for those parents who need to rush home.
Yashvinblogs 
Childish comment first: prém!!
Wai, fauder z’enfant fini rentr lekol lerla dire zott “lev pake aller”…
Bann pov diab, dans la-pli lor bis-stop, gagne koutt projections la-boue depi bann inconscients égoistes ki pe roule brite-brite pe attann transport pou rentr lakaz…
Wai, les salauds ki’nn prend sa decision-la zott cerveau pa’nn bien oxygéné pendant week-end ek lorla meteo pa’nn fouti PREVOIR sa?? Péssé bizin paye lor la-terre mem ha: i hope we’ll be here to laugh at their expense then.
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I was asking myself if we will be waiting for it to reach the minimum required to announce “no school” or would it be sooner.
At Goodlands, the main road was flooded and caused traffic jams.
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There’s one thing I’ve been thinking about. Is it safer for the schoolchildren and students to stay at school in such cases rather than having them wading knee deep in water and heavy rainfall?
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Rain stopped at about 14.00hrs. School released students earlier when it was pouring down heavily. Fail.
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as what i understood from Vasant Bunwaree talked about on tv moments ago :
“je precise qu’on a relacher les ecoles a partir de 11 heures afin de reunir les nececesité pour qu’ils puissent rentrer chez eux”
b moV piaOw .. Adolphe De Pleveitz SSS cki trouve dan grand bay laa .. pan gagne bus 95st antoine laba, mne bizin marche 300m dan lapluie, atan 45 min lor bustop pou gagne ene bus ki rempli ek tourist .. ki to ena pou dire lorsa ?
moV ******MAMA !!!!
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1 parent couma li get sa letemps la gramatin li fini coner ki lapli pou fou ene bezer mais ministere ena bel bel contacte avec meteo et zot pas fouti fer ene couyonad
bunwari ki necessaire in fer ?? mo pas fine trouv nanien mo meme mne bisin ser serrer lor bus stop pu cachiete lapli atan bus ki coumadir pa envi vini et pas fini couma descan marche dans sa delo laboue la
bel drain zot aranzer partout pren sipa comier letemps pou kwar sa kav servi bel zafer mais ti lapli mem parfois drain ran gaz
chapeau a ce gouvernement -.-”
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ca meme ki apelle moriste
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Well, the whole system concerning torrential rain warnings is flawed in my opinion…
Is there a scientific calculation behind the ‘100mm of rain’ rule? Why 100mm? Why not 90mm?
Is the amount of rain in the LAST 12 hours a good gauge of the potential risks to children on their way to school?
Shouldn’t the forecasts be a bigger factor when issuing a torrential rain warning?
Shouldn’t there be a system whereby the conditions of roads, bridges and other infrastructures are assessed before issuing a ‘no-school day’???
The present system is too simplistic… It ignores the complexities of ‘real life’ and should be revised…
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Meteo Mauritius is a joke. In the early morning they already knew that it will rain like shit today and it might cause flooding on several regions. But you know what Yashvin, at 4am, the people responsible for taking the decision were sleeping. So, we had to wait for them to wake up, brush their useless teeth, eat, have a meeting. Then they was already around 09.45-10.00am. Then the decision of such an alert was raised. We live in a stupid country ruled by stupid people with useless political nominees everywhere who knows shit about their jobs.
@YNK FC–> The actual “rule” is that we have to have 100mm rain in 2 hours for torrential rain alert.
@le_voyageur–> You had no school bus?
Goodlands was EPIC jammed today. My sister took nearly 2 hours to come home from Goodlands. If she walked, she wouldn’t had taken so much time.
1 more thing. Quan meteo Maurice dire ou pou ena gro la pluie demain, v dire it’s safe to put your clothes to dry outside.
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@Tushal : lekol la in gagne bus port-louis (3 i think : pointe o piments, 82 p-louis ek 171) et individuelle (ti reffray) ,, cki fer la coate (g.bay, pereyber, capmalheureux, calodyne, goodlands. ) pa ti la 😦 .. mazine toi .. 10-15 zeleves marche dan lapluie
>_<
btw megalol at to 7 pemier laligne la .. lol
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@Tushal… it’s 12 hours… ” Torrential rain conditions is said to exist when the prevailing weather at Mauritius or Rodrigues produces 100 millimeters of widespread rains in less than 12 hours and that this heavy rain is likely to continue for several hours.” Quoted from Mauritius Meteorological Services website…
But it’s true that I’ve heard about the 2 hours on the radio, seems that’s its another confusing rule…
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@YNK FC:
Exception is the only rule that still has meaning here in Dodoland…
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Dismissing school half day is useless IMO.
The weather was better afterwards. The students could have gone home better at usual hours
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I believe these should be set up:
1. Lockers in all schools for kids to have at least one set of dry clothes just in case of emergencies..you never know!
2. When there’s heavy rain, keep the kids at school where they are safer than on the roads and their parents to work. Gather them in the hall or so and parents who can fetch their kids, well good for them.
I believe out there many persons have better ideas too 🙂
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@ReenaDKL:
Common sense ki ou pé montrer ki-ferr pas ena dans la-tett bann ki’nn décide pou dire bann zelev lev paké aller?? Matière noire ki ena entr zott dé z’oreille?? Quel dommage!
Hein, ala enn effet-boomerang bann profiterr/opportunistes politiques ki content tappe lor zott prop camarades dans parlement: quelle belle leçon de solidarité!
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