the essential
Since Saturday January 11, the archipelago has suffered a new tropical storm, Dikeledi. The red alert is maintained on the archipelago until Monday evening and flooding has been reported on the south coast.
Since this Saturday, January 11, downpours have fallen on Mayotte. Significant flooding is reported on the south coast. The prefect extends the red cyclone alert until Monday evening due to severe weather which could cause flooding and mudslides.
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Mayotte: “The habitats have been rebuilt, but in an even more fragile way”, after Chido, the archipelago is once again placed on orange alert
A torrential rain
Tropical storm Dikeledi causes heavy damage to the archipelago. Only a few weeks after the passage of Cyclone Chido, Mayotte was hit again. Mudslides and flooding are reported on the south coast, particularly in the village of Mbouini. It is “completely flooded and devastated” according to the channel Mayotte the 1st. “It is the rain that is our enemy over the next few hours, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow with a monsoon phenomenon which will arrive,” declared Colonel Alexandre Jouassard, spokesperson for Civil Security in Mayotte.
Red vigilance extended until Monday evening
Confined since Saturday evening at 10 p.m., the population of 320,000 inhabitants is not allowed to travel until further notice. Cyclone Dikeledi is downgraded to a tropical storm, but the red alert is still maintained. According to a provisional report, communicated by the prefect of Mayotte, no victims have been reported at the moment. “In any case, we obviously saved lives, including a person saved from their car which had been caught in a flood”, added the spokesperson for Civil Security in Mayotte.
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Mayotte: red alert triggered this evening, heavy rains… what should we expect as the island is going to be hit by a new cyclone?
“Mayotte took a beating,” says Manuel Valls
“The impact was violent, floods, a road cut. We still fear risks. Mayotte has taken a hit recently,” declared the Minister of Overseas Territories. Faced with the urgency of the situation, an emergency bill will be presented to the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Assembly tomorrow. This “first text” “aims to overwrite all the procedures, the rules, to provide aid more quickly,” explained Manuel Valls.
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Mayotte: Mbouini, the only village to have resisted cyclone Chido, completely devastated this morning by cyclone Dikeledi
Major resources put in place
Some 645 Civil Security personnel are prepositioned in strategic locations in the archipelago to intervene as quickly as possible following the cyclone alert in order to “provide relief, assess the damage and assist the population”indicated Civil Security. 79 emergency accommodation centers (schools, MJC, mosques, etc.) have been set up in all the municipalities of Mayotte to help the population. Teaching has still not resumed. “Everything must be done so that, on January 20, some of the schools can open,” declared the Overseas Minister.
