[PHOTOS] “It’s really worrying”: a Quebecer in Mayotte is in shock

A Quebec nurse was at the forefront of the cyclone which struck the French archipelago of Mayotte and fears that its effects will be felt for a long time to come.

• Also read: A curfew imposed to prevent looting in Mayotte

• Also read: The cyclone Desire killed at least 34 people in Mozambique

“The situation is difficult, several of my colleagues and friends no longer have homes. Mayotte looks like an open-air dump,” laments Mariève Tremblay, a Quebecer who has worked there as a nurse for three years.

After the cyclone Desire which caused collapses, floods and devastated the French archipelago on Saturday, residents are still on alert mode.

“There is no water or electricity in almost all areas, the majority of houses are precarious here, we are talking about tin houses… they have all been destroyed,” adds the nurse from 36 years old.

A few days after the natural disaster, thousands of people were missing and it is estimated that between 100,000 and 200,000 people were living in precarious installations.

“The census of people who died will be difficult, since several refugees live there. People do not want to report to the health authorities for fear of having identity checks and being sent back to their country of origin,” explains M.^me Tremblay.

More than 40% of the population lived in improvised houses on this archipelago whose surface area is equivalent to that of the island of Montreal.

“Where are the people? We don’t know, we’re looking. It’s really worrying!” she added.

The nurse reports that a shortage also threatens the hospital where she and several of her colleagues have been working hard since Saturday, when they only have 30% of their stock of medicines left.

On Tuesday, tents were set up to accommodate reinforcements which are still awaited, while the Red Cross has no news of 200 volunteers deployed on the ground.

Provisional assessment

There are currently 22 dead, but this figure is tiny compared to the number of people who are still wanted on this island which is among the poorest attached to France.

“Don’t ask me for an assessment. A census will be carried out when the roads are cleared, but it is clear that the island is totally devastated,” commented the resigning Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, at a press briefing.

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, is sorry for this “tragedy” and is expected to go to Mayotte on Thursday.

A curfew has also been put in place to limit thefts and crimes during the night.

“We think that the coming months will be a real ordeal. I am afraid that, when it is possible, several doctors, teachers and health personnel will leave to settle in the metropolises,” concluded Mariève Tremblay.