race against time to save the residents. «A thousand deaths are feared»

Mayotte, a French archipelago in the Indian Ocean, was hit by Cyclone Chido, the most violent in the last 90 years. With winds exceeding 200 km/hthe storm devastated the island, leaving behind a provisional toll of at least 14 deadwhile the authorities fear that the victims could be many more, “several hundreds”.

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A tragic scenario

The situation is critical: water and food are scarce, the shantytowns have been reduced to rubble, and there is fear of contamination of water reserves with consequent risk of epidemics. The health facilities are collapsing: the hospital in Mamoudzou, the administrative capital, it was floodedmaking it difficult to provide aid to the numerous injured. “It’s carnage,” Ousseni Balahachi, a retired nurse living on the island, told Agence France-Presse.

Particularly dramatic is the condition of irregular immigrants who, fearing a roundupdid not reach the shelters organized by the authorities. It is estimated that over a population of approximately 320,000 inhabitants 100,000 are present illegallyfurther complicating casualty counting and crisis management.

Local traditions, such as the burial of the deceased within 24 hours required by the Muslim faith, add further logistical difficulties in an already highly dramatic context.

Macron and von der Leyen promise help

The French president Emmanuel Macron has called an emergency meeting at the crisis center of the Ministry of the Interior for today at 18:00, while the ministers of the Interior and Overseas, Bruno Retailleau and François-Noël Buffet, will travel to Mayotte to coordinate relief efforts . The European Union, through the president Ursula von der Leyenexpressed solidarity and promised aid to the population. «Europe stands alongside the Mahorais in this terrible ordeal. We stand ready to provide support in the days ahead,” von der Leyen wrote in X.

To deal with the emergency, a meeting was organised air and sea bridge with the island of La Réunion, 1,400 km away. Vehicles, equipment and medical personnel are arriving to support the population and deal with the catastrophe. With roads impassable, electricity poles uprooted and entire villages swept away, Cyclone Chido has brought France’s poorest department to its knees.