[1] The second named storm of the 2023–24 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Belal was first identified as a disturbance east of Agaléga in early January 2024.

On the next day, Belal attained tropical cyclone status and turned southeastward, headed towards the island of Réunion.

Belal brought strong winds and heavy rainfall to Réunion, which caused flooding and power outages across the island.

[3] On the next day, the MFR and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) upgraded the system to a tropical depression, as it moved southwestward due to a low-level ridge to its southeast.

[4][5] Despite affecting by moderate wind shear, the system benefited by other favourable conditions including high sea surface temperature and moist air mass.

[6] Early on 13 January, MFR upgraded the system to a moderate tropical storm, about 700 km (430 mi) north of Réunion.

[10] At 18:00 UTC, Belal reached its peak intensity with 10-minute sustained winds of 140 km/h (85 mph) and a barometric pressure of 968 hPa (28.59 inHg).

[14] On 16 January, the MFR downgraded Belal to a severe tropical storm, due to combined effects of increasing wind shear and land interaction.

[18] Early 19 January, the MFR re-classified Belal as a residual depression and issued the final bulletin for the system, as it continued to weaken under hostlie environemnt.

[12] On 13 January, Réunion was placed under orange alert as Belal was forecasted to pass directly over the island,[21] while Mauritius has been placed under Class I cyclone warnings.

Despite not anticipating a direct hit, heavy rains and strong winds were still expected to bring significant impact on the island.

Officials said that additional resources from Civil Security would arrive in the coming days, as soon as it would be possible to land a plane safely at the airport.

Damages were worse than expected, as Belal carried winds of 110 km/h (68 mph) and swells of 5 to 7 m (16 to 23 ft) hitting the costline of the island.

[39] After the storm, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development allocated Rs1 billion (US$22.6 million) for victims of the flooding and to repair the damage caused by Belal.

[40] On 16 January, the Mauritian government announced that the director of the meteorological services, Ram Dhurmea had stepped down, because the institute hadn't given enough warnings to the citizens and underestimated the impact of Belal.