Mayotte returns to yellow alert for risk of heavy rain and thunderstorms

Météo-France had warned earlier in the afternoon of an “active rain-stormy” episode on the archipelago devastated on December 14 by Cyclone Chido.

An episode of rain approached Mayotte from the East, coming from Madagascar. Twelve days after the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido, Météo-France placed the archipelago on orange alert on Thursday, December 26 for the risk of heavy rain and storms. The forecaster, who had warned of an episode marked by “intense electrical activity up to 7 p.m.local time, or 5 p.m. in France, then downgraded the level of vigilance to yellow.

The 101st French department is still licking its wounds after the cyclone which swept the territory on December 14. According to our colleagues from Mayotte La 1ère, the water, electricity and telecommunications networks are still very seriously affected in the archipelago. “Many disaster victims are still in accommodation centers, others with very little water and food available, despite distribution operations organized by state services,” they recalled.

In the event of orange alert, Météo-France advises, among other things, to be careful and not to travel “only in case of necessity” or even “[tenir] children away from gutters, ravines and rivers which can overflow at any time. The authorities also recommend that the population keep abreast of developments in the weather situation by listening, “as far as possible”information disseminated by the prefecture as well as by the media.