Curfew in Mayotte after the cyclone against looting

A curfew will be established Tuesday evening in the French archipelago of Mayotte, after the devastating and deadly passage of Cyclone Chido, a “tragedy” according to President Emmanuel Macron who will visit the site “in the coming days”.

Three days after the passage of this cyclone, the most intense that Mayotte has experienced in 90 years, the archipelago is lacking everything, and residents are alarmed by the deteriorating health situation.

The curfew will be in place from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. local time for security reasons, to prevent looting, the Interior Ministry explained.

More than 200 Red Cross members may be missing

More than 200 members of the Red Cross may have disappeared in the French archipelago of Mayotte after the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido, the organization announced on Tuesday.

“Winds reaching 220 km/h, caused by Cyclone Chido, devastated the French overseas territory of Mayotte. It is feared that more than 200 members of the Red Cross are missing,” indicated the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), on the social network X.

National mourning

“Faced with this tragedy which upsets each of us, I will declare national mourning,” announced Monday evening Mr. Macron, who will go “in the coming days” to Mayotte “in support” of the population and all those mobilized.

For now, the official death toll stands at 21 hospital deaths and the local prefect has set up a “dead search mission”. But the authorities fear “several hundred” deaths, perhaps even “a few thousand” in this poorest department in France.

“The toll will be heavy, too heavy,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warned on Monday.

The count is all the more complicated because Mayotte is a land with a strong Muslim tradition and, according to Islamic rites, many of the deceased were probably buried within 24 hours.

70% of residents affected

“The island is totally devastated,” explained Mr. Retailleau, in Reunion, a French territory 1,400 km as the crow flies from Mayotte, where he was returning from a trip, specifying that “70% of the inhabitants were seriously affected.

The minister also announced the arrival “in the coming days” of 400 additional gendarmes to lend a hand to the 1,600 gendarmes and police present on the archipelago, while specifying that there had “not really been any looting ” so far.

The cyclone devastated the Indian Ocean territory on Saturday, where around a third of the population lives in precarious housing, which was completely destroyed.

Chido was likely favored by surface waters near 30°C, which provides more energy for storms, a global warming phenomenon already observed elsewhere this fall.

Risk of health crisis

The priority is to ensure the “vital needs” of residents in terms of water and food, insisted Mr. Retailleau.

“We are starting to run out of water. We have a few bottles left but there are almost no stocks in the stores,” worries Antoy Abdallah, 34, resident of Tsoundzou, to AFP.

“We risk a health crisis,” warned Ben Issa Ousseni, the president of the departmental council.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, 50% of running water will be restored within 48 hours.

Single hospital damaged

On the archipelago, the first medical desert in France, the only hospital, badly damaged, is “gradually resuming its activity” and will be supported by a field hospital from Thursday, indicated Mr. Retailleau.

The situation of the healthcare system is “very degraded” in Mayotte, declared the Minister of Health, Geneviève Darrieussecq. On Monday, the first 25 patients “in urgent situations” were evacuated to Reunion.

Another priority for the authorities: sending tents and tarpaulins to restore habitats, totally destroyed or the roof torn off by gusts of wind which reached more than 220 km/h.

According to the French Red Cross, 20 tonnes of material are being transported.

Solidarity

Faced with the emergency, the new Prime Minister François Bayrou called for “national solidarity” Monday evening, from his municipal council in Pau, in the southwest of France. This trip provoked strong criticism, while a crisis unit was assembled in Paris. The President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet said Tuesday morning that she would have “preferred that the Prime Minister took the plane to Mayotte”.

Mr. Retailleau, known for his right-wing positions, has already stressed that the Mayotte archipelago cannot be rebuilt “without addressing the migration issue”.

Nearly half the population is made up of immigrants from neighboring Comoros or other African countries, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

On site, solidarity is being organized despite degraded conditions, while a large part of the archipelago is still deprived of electricity, mobile network and internet, although they are “priority(ies) to allow security and economic recovery,” lamented the Minister of Industry, Marc Ferracci.

“World Cup”

“We are completely cut off from the world. We don’t have access to any information,” laments Antoy Abdallah.

Rescuers are still looking for victims and expect to find many victims in the rubble of the very populated shanty towns, particularly in the heights of Mamoudzou, the capital having called on Monday its adult residents and in “good physical condition” to “reinforce the teams on the ground.

Calls for solidarity and minutes of silence have multiplied, including abroad, with the United States indicating that it is ready to “offer appropriate humanitarian aid”.

At least 34 people in Mozambique

Cyclone Chido has killed at least 34 people in Mozambique, the Mozambican National Institute for Risk and Disaster Management announced on Tuesday.

The cyclone, which ravaged the French archipelago of Mayotte on Saturday, then struck the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado on Sunday, where 28 people were killed, according to the institute. Three others died in Nampula province and three others in Niassa province, inland, he added.

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