Cyclone in Mayotte: curfew and visit from Macron

A curfew was established on Tuesday in the French archipelago of Mayotte, to prevent looting, after the devastating and deadly passage of Cyclone Chido, a “tragedy”, according to President Emmanuel Macron, who will visit the site on Thursday.

Three days after the passage of this cyclone, the most intense that Mayotte has experienced in 90 years, the Indian Ocean archipelago is lacking everything and the health situation is deteriorating.

From the Comorian town of Domoni, from where Mayotte can be seen in good weather, Faiza Soulaimana, reached by telephone byAFPsaid to himself very worried for his aunt because she is diabetic and on dialysis.

Since the cyclone hit, no one has been able to contact hershe worries, while Mayotte has been cut off from the world since Saturday.

The curfew was introduced on Tuesday evening in this Indian Ocean territory to ensure security and avoid looting.

Around twenty dead have been recorded for the time being, but the results is not yet established due to difficulties in accessing the area, French Prime Minister François Bayrou declared Tuesday before the National Assembly in Paris.

Before the deputies, he also mentioned 200 seriously injured et 1500 injured who are in relative emergency. The prefect of Mayotte had mentioned certainly several hundred of victims, perhaps a few thousand after Chido’s visit to this department which is the poorest in France.

The count is all the more complicated because Mayotte is a land with a strong Muslim tradition and, according to Islamic rites, the deceased must be buried as quickly as possible.

The Red Cross has not heard from 200 volunteers, according to the humanitarian organization.

In Mozambique, Cyclone Chido killed at least 34 people, injured more than 300 and destroyed more than 20,000 homes, the National Institute for Risk and Disaster Management announced on Tuesday.

Mayotte is totally devastatedexplained the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, in Reunion, a French territory 1,400 km as the crow flies from Mayotte, from where he was returning from a trip. He clarified that 70% of residents were seriously affected.

The minister also announced the arrival in the coming days of 400 additional gendarmes to lend a hand to the 1,600 gendarmes and police present on the archipelago, while specifying that there were no no real looting so far.

Lack of fuel

However, the authorities are observing an influx of people towards service stations, two thirds of which are requisitioned for emergency vehicles. According to them, tensions begin to appear. Tuesday midday, the mobile telephone network still remained 80% inaccessible.

We will have to import a lot of foodsaid to theAFP Jean-François Corty, president of theONG Doctors of the world, when the island was already not self-sufficient. And distribute mosquito nets, tarpaulins, water…

The cyclone devastated the Indian Ocean territory on Saturday, where around a third of the population lives in precarious, totally destroyed housing.

Chido was likely favored by surface waters near 30°C, which provides more energy for storms, a global warming phenomenon already observed elsewhere this fall.

The priority is to ensure the vital needs residents with water and food, insisted Mr. Retailleau.

We’re starting to run out of water. We have a few bottles left, but there are almost no stocks in the storesworries Antoy Abdallah, 34 years old.

We risk a health crisisalerted Ben Issa Ousseni, the president of the departmental council.

First medical desert in France

On the archipelago, the first medical desert in France, the only hospital, badly damaged, gradually resumes its activity and will be supported by a field hospital from Thursday, indicated Mr. Retailleau.

The situation of the healthcare system is very degraded in Mayotte, declared the Minister of Health, Geneviève Darrieussecq. Monday, first 25 patients in an urgent situation were evacuated to Reunion.

Another priority for the authorities: sending tents and tarpaulins to restore habitats that were completely destroyed or whose roofs were torn off by gusts that reached more than 220 km/h.

According to the French Red Cross, 20 tonnes of material are being transported.

Faced with the emergency, the new Prime Minister François Bayrou called for national solidarity Monday evening, from his municipal council in Pau, in the southwest of France. This trip provoked strong criticism, while a crisis unit was assembled in Paris. The president of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet said Tuesday that she would have preferred that the Prime Minister take the plane to Mayotte.

Emmanuel Macron will be Thursday in Mayotteafter a summit in Brussels on Wednesday, the Élysée announced Tuesday evening.

Mr. Retailleau, known for his right-wing positions, has already stressed that the Mayotte archipelago cannot be rebuilt without addressing the migration issue.

Nearly half the population is made up of immigrants from neighboring Comoros or other African countries, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Rescuers are still looking for victims and expect to find many victims in the rubble of the very populated shanty towns, particularly in the heights of Mamoudzou, the capital, which called its adult residents on Monday and in good physical condition has strengthen teams on the ground.

Calls for solidarity and minutes of silence have multiplied, including abroad, with the United States indicating its readiness to provide appropriate humanitarian assistance.