The authorities carried out “the first 25 evacuations” of patients to Reunion Island on Monday evening, announced the resigning Minister of Health Geneviève Darrieussecq to AFP.
Un bilan inaccessible
“The island is completely devastated. Precarious housing, slums, nothing remains of them,” declared Monday evening the resigning Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, returning to Reunion after a visit “to the heart of the disaster” in Mayotte, alongside notably his Overseas colleague François-Noël Buffet.
The authorities fear “several hundred” deaths, perhaps “a few thousand”, but Bruno Retailleau refused to make any “prognosis”, stressing that it “will take days and days” before having a real toll. . The count is complicated by the fact that Mayotte is a land with a strong Muslim tradition and that, according to Islamic rites, many of the deceased were probably buried within 24 hours of their death. For now, the authorities officially count 21 deaths in hospital and the local prefect has set up a “dead search mission”.
Rescuers expect to find many victims in the rubble of the highly populated shanty towns, particularly in the heights of Mamoudzou. According to Florent Vallée, of the French Red Cross, “entire families” and “many alone” and “abandoned” minor children live in bangas, these small traditional houses now destroyed.
“All the shanty towns are lying flat, which suggests a considerable number of victims,” a source close to the authorities commented to AFP. Mayotte, the poorest department in France, officially has 320,000 inhabitants, “but it is estimated that there are 100,000 to 200,000 more people, taking into account illegal immigration,” added this source, who estimates that few residents in an irregular situation joined the accommodation centers before the cyclone hit, “probably for fear of being controlled”.
Significant damage, particularly to running water
Before the deputies, the resigning Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand committed to presenting measures “to ensure the continuity of the State and come to the aid as quickly as possible” to the Mahorais. The priority, insisted Bruno Retailleau on Monday evening, is to meet “vital needs” in “water and food”. In this regard, 50% of running water will be restored within 48 hours, its services assure.
“The telecoms sector is heavily impacted by the storm”, with a large part of the archipelago without a network yet “a priority to allow security and economic recovery”, for his part lamented the resigning Minister of Industry, Marc Ferracci.
“Many companies have suffered catastrophic damage”, worries Medef, citing “significant financial losses” for some while others are “prey to looting”. Medef and the two other representative employers’ unions, CPME and U2P, are calling for urgent measures to support the economic fabric.
Reinforcements deployed
With wind gusts of more than 220 km/h, Chido is the most destructive cyclone in Mayotte in 90 years. Cyclones usually develop in the Indian Ocean from November to March, but this year surface waters were close to 30°C in the area, providing more energy for storms, a global warming phenomenon also observed this fall in the North Atlantic and the Pacific. Chido is especially “exceptional” because the eye of the cyclone directly hit the small archipelago, according to François Gourand, forecaster at Météo-France.
The situation of the healthcare system is “very degraded” with a “very damaged” hospital and “inoperable” medical centers, declared Geneviève Darrieussecq.
An air and sea bridge is deployed from Reunion Island, a territory 1,400 km away, to transport medical equipment and personnel. A total of 800 civil security personnel are sent as reinforcements, with a field hospital. A second detachment of 150 firefighters and rescuers joined the archipelago on Monday evening. EDF also sent reinforcements to restore access to power and rebuild the electricity network.
In total, 1,500 civilian and military personnel are being transported, including 400 gendarmes and 13 planes are engaged for this airlift, according to state services.
