The slums, which represent a third of housing, have been completely destroyed, trees and electricity poles have fallen to the ground, most roads are impassable, communications extremely difficult, even solid buildings have not resisted the winds. to the prefecture command center whose roof was torn off or the hospital which was badly damaged. It is a cataclysmic landscape that Mayotte, the poorest French department, offers today after the passage of Cyclone Chido on Saturday.
Since then, a race against time has been underway to help the victims of the French archipelago in the Indian Ocean and to try to find survivors in the rubble. While the authorities fear a very heavy human toll. “Certainly hundreds” or even “a few thousand deaths” declared the prefect of Mayotte on Sunday. “In preparing for a crisis, we try to do everything we can. If I had to do it again, I would do even more, to go even further with the information,” added prefect François-Xavier Bieuville . “In the two days preceding, we opened 120 centers, we sheltered around 10,000 people. We would do even more if necessary, I think we have not done enough.”
The resigning Ministers of the Interior and Overseas Territories, Bruno Retailleau and François-Noël Buffet, arrived on site this Monday, as did their colleague from the Francophonie Thani Mohamed-Soilihi, originally from the archipelago. Through its President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission said it was “ready to provide support in the days to come”.
On the archipelago, water is already severely lacking and the situation looks critical. An airlift was set up from Reunion Island to transport relief supplies and equipment. The new Prime Minister, François Bayrou, who is holding meetings on Mayotte and consultations to form his government, said he was “mobilizing all the resources” of the State to help the residents. At least 100,000 people would be without shelter or water. Emmanuel Macron will chair a meeting on Mayotte at the crisis center this evening at 6 p.m. The National Assembly for its part will observe a minute of silence at 4 p.m., in tribute to the victims.
So what is the situation in Mayotte? How to help disaster victims? Crossed by migration, health and social crises, how has this archipelago become for years a laboratory for government policies? Finally, what will François Bayrou's government look like?
The experts:
– CHRISTOPHE BARBIER – Political columnist, editorial advisor – Franc-Tireur
– NATHALIE MAURET – Political reporter – Ebra regional press group
– SELINE SOULA – Journalist at the Overseas division – France Télévisions
– PATRICK COULOMBEL – Architect – “Emergency architects”
– DOMINIQUE VOYNET (duplex) – Member of Parliament, former director of the Mayotte regional health agency
