Mamoudzou, France:France declared "exceptional natural disaster" measures for Mayotte on Wednesday as authorities grappled with the full scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Chido on the Indian Ocean archipelago, racing against time to search for survivors and supply aid.
The "exceptional" measures, announced by French overseas minister Francois-Noel Buffet late Wednesday on social media platform X, will ensure "faster and more effective management of the crisis". French President Emmanuel Macron will be in Mayotte on Thursday, his office said, as officials warned the death toll from the most destructive cyclone in living memory could reach hundreds -- possibly thousands.
France Races To Find Survivors In Cyclone-Hit Mayotte (AFP) "The tragedy of Mayotte is probably the worst natural disaster in the past several centuries of French history," Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said. Rescuers raced Wednesday to find survivors in the ruins of shantytowns while also unblocking roads and clearing rubble. Bulldozers were clearing the heliport of the island's only hospital, as residents were busy repairing their metal-sheet huts.
Located near Madagascar off the coast of southeastern Africa, Mayotte is France's poorest region. Cyclone Chido was the latest in a string of storms worldwide fuelled by climate change, according to meteorologists. Experts say seasonal storms are being super-charged by warmer Indian Ocean waters, fuelling faster, more destructive winds.
Mayotte will fall under the "exceptional natural disaster" designation -- a new emergency system for overseas territories, said Buffet -- for a month. The measures are renewable every two months after that. It will "enable the local and national authorities to react more quickly while streamlining certain administrative procedures", Buffet said.
Authorities have also imposed a nightly curfew to prevent looting. A preliminary toll from France's interior ministry shows that 31 people have been confirmed killed, 45 seriously wounded and 1,373 suffering lighter injuries. But officials say the toll could rise exponentially.
"What I fear is that the toll will be far too high," said French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who visited Mayotte on Monday. After hitting Mayotte, Cyclone Chido made landfall in Mozambique, claiming at least 45 lives, injuring 500 people and destroying more than 20,000 homes, authorities said.
'Crushed everything'
An estimated one-third of Mayotte's population lives in shantytowns whose flimsy, sheet metal-roofed homes offered scant protection from the storm. In the small commune of Pamandzi, sheet metal and destroyed wooden structures were strewn as far as the eye could see. "It was like a steamroller that crushed everything," said Nasrine, a Mayotte teacher who declined to give her full name, as she showed visitors around the razed neighbourhood of La Vigie.
Health services across Mayotte are in tatters, while power and mobile phone services have been knocked out. The airport is closed to civilian flights while the question of how to ensure supplies of drinking water has caused mounting concern. "Everyone is rushing to the stores for water," said Ali Ahmidi Youssouf, a 39-year-old resident walking on the road with a few bottles in his hand.
Bayrou said 50 per cent of the electricity network was back online, with a target of 75 per cent "by the end of the week". Macron was initially due to take part in a Brussels summit with EU leaders but cut short his trip to go to Mayotte.
'Massive support'
Much of Mayotte's population is Muslim, whose religious tradition dictates that bodies be buried rapidly, meaning some may never be counted. Assessing the toll is further complicated by irregular immigration to Mayotte, especially from the Comoros islands to the north, meaning much of the population is unregistered.
Mayotte officially has 320,000 inhabitants, but authorities estimate the actual figure is 100,000 to 200,000 higher when taking into account undocumented migrants. French military planes have been shuttling between Mayotte and the island of La Reunion -- another French overseas territory to the east that was spared by the cyclone.
Coming next was a "civilian maritime bridge" between both island groups, said Patrice Latron, the prefect in La Reunion. "We're moving to a phase of massive support for Mayotte," he said, adding that around 200 shipping containers with supplies and water would arrive by Sunday. The French navy support and assistance vessel Champlain, which set sail from La Reunion, is due to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday morning with 180 tonnes of freight on board.
The government said it would set up a field hospital to relieve pressure on the main hospital and its exhausted staff. Mamoudzou city hall, meanwhile, called for adults "in good physical shape" to step forward and assist emergency services.
