SAINT-PAUL, Réunion (AP) — A tropical cyclone hit the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean on Monday, bringing intense rains and powerful winds and leaving about a quarter of households without electricity and tens of thousands of homes without water, authorities said. Nearby Mauritius was also on high alert as authorities there said they expected to feel the effects of Cyclone Belal as it made its way through the southwestern Indian Ocean. In Reunion, local authorities said that the highest alert level — or purple alert — that was announced on Sunday had been lifted after the worst of the storm had passed.