Tens of thousands without water in Mayotte
Tens of thousands of people are still without water in Mayotte after the French Indian Ocean region was devastated by Cyclone Chido, as rescuers raced to find missing people.
Initial figures from France’s Interior Ministry put the death toll at 22, but the governor of Mayotte warned that the death toll could rise into the thousands.
Health workers are concerned that infectious diseases could spread, as residents report a shortage of clean drinking water and shops are giving away food. More aid is expected to arrive on Wednesday.
Islanders spent the first night under a curfew between 22:00 local time on Tuesday and 04:00 on Wednesday (19:00 and 01:00 GMT) as part of measures to prevent looting.
“Everyone rushes to the shops to get water. There is a shortage,” Ali Ahmidi Youssouf, 39, told AFP on Wednesday as he walked with a few bottles in his hand in the community of Pamandzi on the way out of the main island of the islands.
Part of the area remains without power. Authorities said their priority is to get the damaged water plants back up and running.
On Wednesday, authorities said the water system had been partially restored and they hoped 50% of the island’s population would have access by evening.
The French government said 120 tons of food would be distributed on Wednesday, and President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit Mayotte on Thursday.
Mayotte is one of the poorest areas in France, with many residents living in shantytowns.
Chido – the worst storm to hit the archipelago in 90 years – brought wind speeds of more than 225km/h (140mph) on Saturday, flattening areas where people live in tin-roofed shacks and leaving mounds of soil and debris.
“It was like a steamroller crushing everything,” Nasrine, a teacher who did not give her last name, told AFP in her hometown of Pamandzi.
An eyewitness to the storm told Reuters that the roof was “flying like pieces of paper”.
“The strong wind broke the window and tore the wood. The wood was 2m by 3m (6.5 by 9.8ft),” said Diego Plato, a photographer for the 5th Foreign Regiment of the French Legion.
He went on to say that many Legion buildings are no longer functional because they no longer have roofs.
Rescuers are now searching for survivors in the ruins, such as in the capital Mamoudzou, while trying to open roads and clear debris and fallen trees.
On Wednesday morning, Mamoudzou residents who survived the storm hammered iron on the collapsed roof.
Francois-Xavier Bieuville, the mayor of Mayotte, previously told local media the death toll could rise significantly once the damage has been fully assessed.
He warned that “it will be quite a few hundred” and could reach thousands.
Chido has killed at least 45 people in Mozambique, and at least seven in Malawi, according to disaster management agencies in those countries.
Officials said Mayotte’s low official toll was due to many inaccessible areas and some victims had been buried.
Difficulties are compounded by uncertainty about Mayotte’s population.
The territory officially has 320,000 residents, but authorities estimate that as many as 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented immigrants may be living there.
Initial figures from the interior ministry show that 1,373 people were injured in Mayotte.
Newly appointed French Prime Minister François Bayrou told parliament on Tuesday that “there are 200 seriously injured and 1,500 injured in an emergency”.
“I have never seen such a tragedy in the world,” Bayrou said later in the post X.
“I think about the children whose houses were destroyed, their schools destroyed and their parents very frustrated.”
The government said it was sending the goods via an air bridge from its other Indian Ocean territory, Reunion Island.
On Wednesday, 100 tons of food will be distributed on the large island of Grand-Terre in Mayotte, and 20 tons will be given to the small island of Petite-Terre.
A support and aid ship for the French military is also expected to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday morning carrying 180 tons of supplies.
The ferry connecting Mayotte’s two main islands resumed service on Wednesday, allowing some people caught in the storm to return to their families.
“I haven’t heard anything from my staff in five days,” the owner of the boat, who declined to be named, told Reuters. “Going back to the Stone Age.”
Meanwhile, in Malawi – where Chido is headed after passing through Mayotte – authorities say seven people have died.
As many as 20 of the country’s 29 regions have suffered “minor or major damage” affecting about 35,000 people, the disaster management department said in a statement.
The number of deaths and the level of destruction lower than in neighboring Mozambique where authorities put the death toll at 34.
Experts say seasonal typhoons like Chido are getting stronger due to warming ocean waters.
The typhoon poses another challenge to the government following months of political turmoil, with Bayrou was appointed last week following the dismissal of the former Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
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