VIDEO – On Instagram and on BFMTV, the young woman, who participated in the Miss France election on Saturday evening, expressed her serious concern.
Rhinestones and sequins have given way to worry. Saturday evening, Zaya Toumbou proudly represented the colors of Mayotte in the 95th election of Miss France won by Martinican Angélique Angarni-Filopon. But behind the scenes, the 20-year-old young woman was not in the spirit of celebrating.
And for good reason. On Saturday, Cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. Roofs torn off, homes destroyed, trees uprooted… Winds of up to 226 km/h swept away everything in their path. This is the worst cyclone that Mayotte has experienced since 1934. The latest report provided by the authorities shows 14 dead and nearly 250 injured but the prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville, fears “several hundred”even “a few thousand” of deaths.
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The day after the ceremony held at the Arena Futuroscope, Zaya Toumbou posted several messages on her Instagram account. “Before talking about Miss France, I would like to talk about Mayotte. What is happening there is a real disaster, there was a violent cyclone. I don’t have the words. Like many Mahorais, I was unable to have contact with my family.she first wrote before expressing her concern about her father: “I called my father several times, but he didn’t answer. The only news I have comes from Mayotte La 1ère”. And to specify: “In Mayotte, there is no Internet, no water, no electricity. The houses are destroyed and there are deaths”.
The third-year information science and communication science student in Toulouse then published videos and photos of the damage and reposted the only message she finally received from her father saying: “I lost everything”. “I was unwell all evening. I don’t know if we really realize the violence of this sentence. It is a terrible and unimaginable despair. There are 320,000 Mahorais who have lost everything. Everything is destroyed. Houses, cars, hospitals, schools, all infrastructure. These are entire lives that will have to be rebuilt.”she concluded. Nicknamed “the Johnny Hallyday of Mayotte”, his father Lathéral, creator of Mgodro Mréngué, is a singing legend on the archipelago and has left his mark on several generations with his group Melrose Plage.
Sunday evening, Zaya Toumbou also spoke on BFMTV. The young woman once again spoke of the lack of communication with her father. “I haven’t had any other messages. I tried to call him, he didn’t answer me. I don’t know what he’s going through, a priori, he’s not injured.”she said.
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