PONITE-Á-PITRE, France, (AFP) — The French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe braced for high winds and lashing rains Saturday as Hurricane Tammy bore down on the territory and authorities imposed a stay-home order.

The regional prefect, Xavier Lefort, announced a purple cyclone alert — the highest — as of 1330 GMT “in view of the deterioration of the weather situation in the next few hours”.

“The prefect asks the population to confine themselves and to respect all the recommendations of the authorities”.

The economy of the Caribbean archipelago of about 380,000 inhabitants is completely shut down, and all movement was prohibited after schools closed on Friday.

According to a report issued by the Meteo-France weather agency at 1300 GMT, driving rain is lashing the archipelago and the sea is already strong.

Troughs of up to five metres (over 16 feet) are generating surges on the east and south coasts of the islands of Marie-Galante and La Desirade.

Winds of up to 130 kilometres per hour (more than 80 miles per hour) are expected.

The deluge has also raised fears of flooding in the area which was lashed by Tropical Storm Philippe at the beginning of October.

Residents were busy preparing for the arrival of the hurricane.

Francoise, a 42-year-old teacher, packed seven multipacks of water into a supermarket trolley.

“In my house there is never any water in normal times, because of our bad supply. But if a hurricane arrives, I don’t expect to find water from the tap for at least a week, so I prefer to prepare myself,” she told AFP.

In Guadeloupe, all weekend events have been cancelled, flights grounded and sea transport between the islands suspended.

The archipelago of 1,700 square kilometres is governed by France, nearly 7,000 kilometres away (4,350 miles).