French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he would travel to Mayotte, France’s poorest overseas territory, where rescuers are still searching for the hundreds feared dead by the worst cyclone to hit the Indian Ocean islands in almost a year century, have died.
Cyclone Chido devastated large parts of the archipelago off East Africa over the weekend with winds of more than 200 km/h, scattering houses across hills and crippling telephones, electricity and drinking water.
With the areas still inaccessible, France’s acting Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said it would take days to determine the full extent of the damage and deaths, stressing he feared the number would be “too high, too high.”
“I couldn’t give you any numbers, at least not at the moment. It is clear that the island is completely destroyed,” Retailleau said during a press conference.
The French interior minister arrived in Mayotte on Monday after Cyclone Chido devastated large parts of the archipelago off East Africa and a significant death toll was feared in the densely populated area.
After holding an emergency meeting with his Cabinet on Mayotte, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would declare a national period of mourning and planned to visit in the coming days following “this tragedy that has shocked each of us.”
France used ships and military aircraft to bring teams and supplies to the devastated region to provide relief after the cyclone. But the damage was compounded by years of poverty, for which France was criticized.
On Monday, residents lined up at grocery stores looking for water and other essentials.
“It really is a war landscape. I don’t recognize anything anymore. There is not even a tree, the hills, not a blade of grass, it is extraordinary,” Camille Cozon Abdourazak from Mayotte told Reuters via video call after her power was restored.
“I found a store that was open and had water. There were a few cans of milk left so I was able to buy one can of milk for my baby and one for my friend’s baby next door,” she added.
Teacher Hamada Ali described streets covered in mud and trees. People were sheltering in schools and bottled water was being used for cooking, he said.
“Houses with tin roofs were washed away by the cyclone,” he added.
Communication was disrupted across much of the territory, leaving relatives outside desperately asking questions on social media. “I need an update from Chiconi please, my brother, sister-in-law and niece are here and I haven’t had any news since Saturday,” one said.
Retailleau added that rescue teams were dispatched from Réunion, another French overseas territory, as well as France, and that airlifts were delivering 20 tons of water and food every day.
As of Monday, 21 deaths had been confirmed in hospitals, with 45 people in critical condition. But officials say any estimates would likely significantly underestimate the death toll given the scale of the disaster. According to the French Interior Ministry, around 70 percent of Mayotte’s population has been severely affected by the cyclone.
Acting Health Minister Genevieve Darrieussecq said the capital Mamoudzou’s main hospital was maintaining operations after floods damaged surgical and intensive care units, while a field clinic was being set up and 100 additional paramedics were being deployed.
More than three quarters of Mayotte’s 321,000 residents live in relative poverty. According to 2021 data from the INSEE statistics agency, Mayotte has an annual average disposable income of just over 3,000 euros (4,490 Cdn.) per inhabitant, about eight times less than the Ile-de-France region around Paris.
Biggest storm in 90 years
The islands near the Comoros archipelago first came under French control in 1841. Mayotte consists of two main islands in an area about twice the size of Washington, DC
It has struggled with unrest in recent years, with many residents angered by illegal immigration and inflation.
The area has become a stronghold of the far-right Rassemblement Nationale, with 60 percent voting for Marine Le Pen in the 2022 presidential runoff.
Chido was the strongest storm to hit Mayotte in more than 90 years, French weather service Meteo France said.
As a result of global warming, extreme weather events are occurring more and more frequently around the world. Poorer countries often say they are bearing the brunt of the environmental crisis, even though they have historically emitted far less CO2 than richer countries.
“It was clear that … if a cyclone hit … we would find ourselves in a situation,” left-wing lawmaker Eric Coquerel told French broadcaster LCI, saying the destruction in Mayotte was proof that we had not prepared us for the effects of climate change.
The region was already weakened by years of drought, compounded by persistent underinvestment and testing France’s management and support in its far-flung territories. In 2023, Mayotte experienced its driest year since 1997. Residents reported that taps only ran one day out of three.
According to local media and the French, hundreds of makeshift houses were destroyed and scattered across the area by the cyclone Gendarmerie. Coconut trees crashed through building roofs, boats were overturned, cars were covered in debris and people huddled under tables as the cyclone struck.
“I screamed because I could see the end coming to me,” John Balloz, who lives in Mamoudzou, told Reuters.
The prefect of Mayotte, Francois-Xavier Bieuville, said over the weekend that the number of deaths would definitely be in the hundreds and possibly several thousand.
After Mayotte, Chido reached the land in northern Mozambique, where it quickly weakened. On Sunday it was classified as a tropical storm but still killed three people in Mozambique, destroyed several buildings and killed two people in neighboring Malawi, authorities said.
Mayotte’s main airport remained closed to civilian flights on Monday morning, said Jean-Paul Bosland, the president of the French Fire Brigade Association.
The European Parliament held a minute’s silence on Monday in which the chamber’s president, Roberta Metsola, said: “Mayotte is Europe, and Europe will not abandon you.”
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