After the disaster, the dismay of the inhabitants. The Mahorese population is in great difficulty after the passage of the cyclone desire, which devastated the archipelago on Saturday December 14. While the provisional toll is at least twenty dead and the prefect of Mayotte fears “several hundred” even “several thousand”calls for goodwill have multiplied in recent hours for rapid intervention in favor of the victims. Donations, health reserve, clearance… Franceinfo takes stock of the different ways of helping disaster victims.
You can donate to recognized associations
Several French associations quickly launched an appeal for donations to help the 320,000 inhabitants of Mayotte – three-quarters of whom live below the poverty line. “The needs are immense”, explains Secours populaire. The association encourages donations to be sent by post or on their website specifying “Emergency Fund”. “Significant damage has been reported and vulnerable people living in precarious habitats have suffered the full brunt of the violent winds”, alerts the NGO in its appeal for help.
Same message from the Red Cross, which has a territorial delegation on site as well as on the island of Reunion, located nearby. “Our teams are prepared and ready to intervene in this type of operation”explains the president of the French Red Cross, Philippe Da Costa, on social networks. To facilitate their rapid intervention in the poorest department in France, the association encourages participants to participate in their kitty. Civil Protection, whose teams are largely mobilized on the ground, is also calling for donations on its social networks. To do this, a dedicated page, called “Emergency Mayotte, let's support the affected populations”, has been set up.
The Fondation de France also launched an appeal to help “to the reconstruction”. The temporality of its action is slightly different: it intends to intervene “after the immediate relief and emergency phase to facilitate the return to normal daily life of the most vulnerable people”. The private non-profit organization specifies that donations must be exclusively “in silver”because material aid is considered difficult to deliver.
Caregivers are invited to join the health reserve
While the archipelago's health system was seriously damaged by the cyclone, human reinforcements are welcome in the medical field. Loïc Grosse, director of the Alert and Crisis department at Public Health France, launched an appeal on X to swell the ranks of the health reserve to help Mamoudzou hospital. “Only apply if you are ready to work in very poor conditions, including housing, transport, food”however, he warns. The list of professional profiles sought by Public Health France is detailed in this message.
Still on the social network president of the union French Union for Free Medicine, Jérôme Marty, encourages caregivers who “would be ready to go there to help the Mahorese populations” to report at [email protected]. The request is also made for people with “of healthcare equipment to meet the urgent demand of the population of Mayotte”.
Guest of “4 Truths” Monday morning, Geneviève Darrieussecq, resigning Minister of Health, announced that she had already called on around a hundred doctors, nurses and caregivers from the health reserve, facing a healthcare system “very degraded, with a badly damaged hospital and inoperable medical centers”.
People on site can participate in local calls
Help is also welcome if you are currently on the archipelago. As noted by our colleagues from La 1ere Mayotte, the police invited volunteer residents to gather in front of the rectorate in Mamoudzou to help “clear branches and metal sheets”. “Do you have a van or tools? Your help will be invaluable”specifies the police on its Facebook page.
Same call for volunteers made by the departmental council, still on Facebook, in particular to help manage temporary accommodation centers. “Accommodation centers today accommodate many families in vulnerable situations, and municipal agents, on the front line, are struggling to meet all the requirements of this exceptional situation”he explains. The institution invites volunteers to get closer “town halls or local coordinators to offer your support in various areas”.
