Cyclone Garance, a category 3 cyclone carrying gusts of up to 70 kilometers an hour, was on Thursday deemed a "direct threat" to the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and La Reunion, placing both countries on high alert and prompting a race to stockpile of essentials.

Three people have died in Reunion after Cyclone Garance swept through the French Indian Ocean territory with gusts of up to 234km/h (145mph). The tropical cyclone left more than 180,000 homes without power and 170,000 without running water after making landfall on Friday morning.

Cyclone Garance barrelled across La Reunion island on Friday killing at least two people as fierce winds left destruction across the French Indian Ocean territory, authorities said.