Mayotte placed on purple alert in the face of bad weather, the highest level

For the president of the departmental council of the archipelago, “Mayotte has never experienced such a situation”. The population and emergency services are subject to strict confinement.

Be careful of very strong winds. The Mayotte archipelago is placed on purple alert, the highest level, Saturday December 14 at 7 a.m. local time (5 a.m. in Paris), due to the imminent arrival of Cyclone Chido, announced the prefecture of this island of the Indian Ocean. “The eye of the cyclone will pass over the north of Mayotte between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., causing a false calm”warns on X the prefecture of this overseas department of 320,000 inhabitants.

“This is a serious situation. Mayotte has never experienced such a situation”declared the president of the departmental council, Ben Issa Ousseni, on Friday. The purple level involves “strict confinement of the entire population, including emergency and security services and all agents mobilized to manage the crisis”specifies a press release published on X from the prefecture of this overseas department. “The eye of the cyclone will pass over the north of Mayotte between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., causing a false calm”warned the prefecture.

The purple level involves “strict confinement of the entire population, including emergency and security services and all agents mobilized to manage the crisis”specifies a press release published on X of the prefecture. Police and firefighters have no choice but to barricade themselves while waiting for a lull, and authorization to intervene again. The authorities have also invited the population to take shelter “in a solid dwelling, with a stock of water and food available” the time of the cyclone”. “Do not go out under any circumstances (…), only telephone if absolutely necessary”, recommends the prefecture.

Around 6 a.m. local time (4 a.m. in Paris), the cyclone was approximately 100 km northeast of Mayotte according to the latest Météo-France bulletin. “A deterioration in weather conditions is expected” at the end of the night, with “destructive or even devastating winds”. In its bulletin, Météo-France underlines that Chido “has suffered a slight drop in intensity in recent hours” but that it should remain at a “significant intensity” over the “next 36 hours”.