“We are thirsty. We are hungry”: faced with aid arriving in dribs and drabs, the inhabitants of Mayotte are growing impatient, the day after the departure of Emmanuel Macron who noted the immensity of the needs of the archipelago devastated by cyclone Chido. The French president promised on Friday evening that homes would be at least partially connected to water from Saturday, after having been confronted for two days with the distress of the Mahorais.
“The priority of priorities is the fight for drinking water, drinking water,” affirmed the Head of State in the face of the risk of dehydration which threatens the victims, isolated and sometimes deprived of drinking water. and food. Although he assured several local media that he was coping with the “emergency”, the head of state also warned that “for months, Mayotte will not live in a normal situation”.
Not all schools will be able to reopen at the start of the school year on January 13, he warned. “But we want to be able to provide a solution to all families” on this date, he assured, referring among other things to the schooling of students in neighboring Reunion Island.
Six days after the passage of Cyclone Chido, the provisional toll stands at 35 dead and some 2,500 injured, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior. But “it is likely that there are many more victims,” admitted Emmanuel Macron, recalling that a mission had been carried out to establish an exact toll.
On Friday, Emmanuel Macron went to Tsingoni, a landlocked town in the west of Grande-Terre, the main island of the archipelago. Far from Mamoudzou, the capital, help, water, electricity and food are still slow to arrive.
“We want water,” several residents implored him. On Saturday, 50 additional volunteers from the French Red Cross will take off from the mainland to reach Mayotte.
“Already 80 tonnes of food and 50 tonnes of water were distributed in nine municipalities yesterday”, added the resigning Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau on 000 liters of water per day”, or a little less than two liters per person, in an area where it is currently over 30 degrees.
Cans in hand, dozens of Mahorais elbowed each other on Friday in front of the gas station in the Kawéni district, the largest slum in France, in the hope of leaving with a little fuel, particularly to run the generators, despite the authorities' ban on filling cans and jerrycans.
Only seven service stations are open and refueling is limited to 30 liters.
