A curfew will be introduced Tuesday evening in the French archipelago of Mayotte, after the devastating and deadly passage of Cyclone Chido, whose still very provisional toll shows around twenty deaths. A real “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 Indian Ocean 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.
“Faced with this tragedy which upsets each of us, I will declare national mourning”, announced Monday evening Emmanuel Macron, who will go “in the coming days” to Mayotte “in support” of the population and all those mobilized.
>> Read also: Chido: the worst event in Mayotte since 1934
“Assessment not yet established”
“Around twenty deaths” have been recorded in Mayotte, a French archipelago in the Indian Ocean devastated by Cyclone Chido. But “the assessment” for the moment “is not yet established”, declared French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Tuesday before the National Assembly, while he is the subject of numerous criticisms, in particular on his management of the crisis and its sense of priorities (read framed).
In front of the deputies, he also mentioned “200 seriously injured” and “1500 injured who are in relative emergency”. The prefect of Mayotte spoke of “certainly several hundred” victims, perhaps “a few thousand”.
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.
>> Read also: Race against time to rescue the inhabitants of Mayotte
400 additional gendarmes expected
Mayotte “is totally devastated”, explained the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, in Reunion, a French territory 1,400 km away as the crow flies from Mayotte, where he was returning from a trip, specifying that “70 % of residents 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 been “no real looting” so far.
However, the authorities are observing an influx of people towards service stations, two thirds of which are requisitioned for emergency vehicles. According to them, “tensions are beginning to appear”. Tuesday midday, the mobile telephone network still remained unavailable at 80%.
50% of running water soon restored
The priority is to ensure the “vital needs” of residents in terms of water and food, insisted Bruno Retailleau. According to the Interior Ministry, 50% of running water will be restored within 48 hours.
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 Bruno Retailleau.
Another priority for the authorities: sending tents and tarpaulins to restore habitats, totally destroyed or the roof torn off by wind gusts which reached more than 220 km/h. According to the French Red Cross, 20 tonnes of material are being transported. The Red Cross has no news of 200 volunteers, according to the humanitarian organization.
fgn with agencies
