Macron visits Mayotte as thousands of people are still missing after the storm

As it lands over Petite-Terre, the smaller island of Mayotte, the extent of the destruction caused by Cyclone Chido becomes immediately clear.

It’s hard to overstate how completely devastated the landscape is in this area of ​​the French Indian Ocean after the storm hit the islands on Saturday.

Rolling hills that were once covered with coconut palms now look barren and black. The trees’ leaves have been blown away and their trunks are standing horizontally.

The airport’s signal tower was destroyed by the 140-mile (220 km) winds.

Even the closest airport hotel – a solid building and one of the few places on the island with working Wi-Fi and electricity – has a badly damaged roof and broken windows.

French authorities say at least 31 people have died, but thousands are still missing and there are fears the death toll could rise dramatically.

A state of exceptional natural disaster has been declared for the area, which is one of the poorest parts of France and where many residents live in informal settlements.

Similar scenes of devastation on Mayotte’s other main island, Grande-Terre, greeted French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday morning as he arrived with four tons of food and health aid.

But as he surveyed the damage, some suggested that the extent of the destruction here was a direct result of his underinvestment in the island.

With its government currently in disarray and a heated debate over migration in France, Mayotte finds itself at the center of both a political and physical storm.

The thousands of illegal immigrants on the island have long puzzled the French government, and now some in France argue that too much aid to the area would encourage even more immigrants to come here.

Meanwhile, residents of France’s poorest department are still waiting for food, water and shelter.

When we landed it was raining heavily, filling the buildings whose roofs had been blown off with water.

This is just one example of some of the difficulties Mayotte residents have been living with for almost a week.

The state of emergency declared for Mayotte is intended for the French overseas territories to allow administrative hurdles to be overcome in order to deal with the crisis more quickly and effectively.

Activation is for one month, but can be extended by two months if necessary.

“Given this exceptional situation, extraordinary resources must be deployed to quickly restore vital services and implement a sustainable recovery plan for Mayotte,” said Minister for Overseas Territories François-Noël Buffet.

Emergency services have delivered food and water, cleared roads while trying to find the missing.

Health workers fear infectious diseases could spread as residents report a lack of clean drinking water and stores ration supplies.

Authorities said their priority was to restart damaged waterworks.

Half of the territory remains without electricity. A newly imposed curfew The law requires people to stay in their homes for six hours overnight to prevent looting.

Wish – The worst storm to hit the archipelago in 90 years – brought winds of more than 225 kph (140 miles per hour) on Saturday, flattening areas where many live in informal structures with tin roofs and leaving fields of dirt and debris.

After Mayotte, the storm hit mainland Africa, killing at least 45 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi.