Mamoudzou, Mayotte – French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte on Thursday to investigate the situation Devastation caused by Cyclone Chido Across French territory, thousands of people tried to get by without basic necessities such as water or electricity.
“Mayotte is demolished,” an airport security official told Macron as soon as he got off the plane.
Security official Assane Haloi said her family members, including young children, had no water or electricity and nowhere to go after the strongest cyclone in nearly a century hit the French territory of Mayotte, off the coast of Africa, on Saturday.
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“There is no roof, there is nothing. No water, no food, no electricity. We can’t even find shelter, we are all drenched and our children are covering us with everything we have so we can sleep,” she said, pleading for emergency help.
Macron was given a helicopter tour of the damage and was expected to spend Thursday night in distant French territory. After flying over the destruction, he made his way to the hospital in Mamoudzou, the capital of Mayotte, to meet medical staff and patients.
Wearing a traditional Mayotte scarf over his white shirt and tie, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the French president listened to people asking for help. A medical staff member told him that some people had not drunk water for 48 hours.
Some residents also expressed distress at not knowing anything about those who died or were still missing, partly due to the Muslim practice of burying the dead within 24 hours.
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“We are dealing with mass graves in the open air,” Mayotte lawmaker Estelle Youssoufa told reporters. “There are no rescuers, no one has come to retrieve the buried bodies.”
Some survivors and aid groups have described hasty burials and the stench of the bodies.
Macron acknowledged that many of those who died had not been reported. He said telephone services will be repaired “in the coming days” to allow people to report their missing loved ones.
According to French authorities, at least 31 people died and more than 1,500 people were injured, more than 200 of them critically. However, it is feared that hundreds or even thousands of people have died overall.
Abdou Houmadou, 27, said immediate relief was needed, not Macron’s presence.
“Mr President, what I would like to say to you is that I think the expenditure you have made from Paris to Mayotte would have been better spent supporting the people,” he said.
Another resident, Ahamadi Mohammed, said Macron’s visit was “a good thing because he can see the damage himself.”
“I think we will then get significant help to try to get the island back on its feet,” said the 58-year-old.
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Macron’s office said there were four tons of food and medical aid on board the presidential flight, as well as other rescuers. According to the French military, a navy ship carrying another 180 tons of aid and equipment was expected to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday.
People living in a large slum on the outskirts of Mamoudzou were most affected by the cyclone. Many lost their homes, some lost friends.
When the cyclone hit, Nassirou Hamidouni sought shelter in his home.
His neighbor was killed when his house collapsed on him and his six children. Hamidouni and others dug through the rubble to get to them.
The 28-year-old father of five is now trying to rebuild his own house, which was also destroyed.
He believes the death toll is much higher than is officially reported, given the severity of what he went through.
“It was very difficult,” he said.
Located in the Indian Ocean between the east coast of mainland Africa and northern Madagascar, Mayotte is France’s poorest territory.
The cyclone devastated entire neighborhoods and many people ignored warnings because they thought the storm would not be so extreme.
According to the French government, Mayotte has a population of more than 320,000. Most are Muslims and French authorities estimate another 100,000 migrants live there.
Mayotte is the only part of the Comoros archipelago that voted to remain with France in a 1974 referendum.
In the last decade, the French territory has experienced a massive influx of migrants from neighboring islands – the independent state of Comoros, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.
