The packages are ready. In the brand new Red Cross hangar in Reunion, thirty tons of emergency equipment are carefully packaged and labeled. Their destination? Mayotte. 1,500 kilometers away, Cyclone Chido devastated the archipelago and the humanitarian needs are colossal. “Only a few pallets have already left”says Martin Marin, logistics coordinator of the NGO, Monday December 16, two days after the disaster. With his freight elevator, he crisscrosses the aisles to prepare new loads. Time is running out.
Under plastic films and in white bags marked with a red cross, thousands of tarpaulins, blankets, reconstruction tools, solar charging stations and collapsible jerry cans are packed. A little further away, two other lots are also ready: one for water treatment, of which Mayotte was already cruelly lacking before the disaster; and another to build a modular hospital, in order to support the partly flooded Mamoudzou hospital center.
“All this will go away in the coming days”hopes Christian Pailler, the head of the regional delegation. But it is impossible to know the exact date. “There is a lot of logistical complexity”explains the local head of the Red Cross. Access to Mayotte has been particularly difficult since the cyclone, which seriously damaged the airport and port. Forty-eight hours after the disaster, only a few army and civil security planes were able to land on the tarmac. “We have sent a quarter of the batch of material at the moment”assesses Christian Pailler. Other, more numerous air and sea convoys are planned in the coming days.
A latency which is nothing extraordinary after a disaster of this magnitude. “We often have the impression that we are slow to intervene, but it is necessary time for better distribution to the populations”explains Christian Pailler. “To rush is to add chaos to chaos.”
In Mayotte, more than 250 people from the Red Cross are already hard at work, despite the damage suffered by the buildings of the local territorial delegation. Reinforcements were also sent just before the cyclone hit. But communications are now difficult and material support must not destabilize local human resources. “We are in contact with the teams on site so that they have the capacity to recover everything”adds Martin Marin.
“We must prepare the ground to be able to accommodate the equipment, and the teams to be able to distribute it.”
Christian Pailler, head of regional delegation of the Red Crossat franceinfo
For the moment, no clothing or food collection has been organized by the local Red Cross, despite requests from the inhabitants of Reunion and France. A call for donations was, however, launched on the NGO's website. Priority must be given to emergency equipment, in order to meet the vital needs of the Mahorais.
The Reunion Red Cross teams are ready to accelerate the pace as soon as the green light is given, in conjunction with public and private carriers. “As soon as the logistics hub is operational, we will be able to provide more equipment”assures Christian Pailler. In their 900 m2 hangar in Reunion, the Red Cross teams have enough to meet the priority needs of 25,000 people.
A glimmer of hope in the face of the scale of the disaster: the buildings of the Indian Ocean Regional Intervention Platform (Piroi) were inaugurated only a few days ago, at the end of November. Reinforced resources and doubled storage capacity, which are timely. “The season [des cyclones] start strong”, slips Solène Devin, communications manager. Especially since the French Red Cross does not only come to the aid of the 101st French department. Batches of equipment must also go to Madagascar, the Comoros and Mozambique, also affected by Cyclone Chido.
