An intense tropical cyclone of extreme violence hits the Mayotte archipelago. Local elected officials deplore a catastrophic situation, with 15,000 homes without electricity.
“Mayotte has never experienced such a situation,” declared Friday, December 14, the president of the departmental council, Ben Issa Ousseni. “This is a serious time,” as residents face the passage of Chido, an intense tropical cyclone. Winds going up to 200 or even 230 km/h are expected Two people died on Saturday in the Petite-Terre sector.
As of Thursday, schools were closed on the archipelago due to the arrival of the cyclone. The winds hitting Mayotte are even more violent than those of Cyclone Kamisy in 1984 which left thousands homeless and affected the population of the territory, today the poorest department in France, notes BFMTV. On Friday night, the maximum alert level was triggered, the purple alert, which called residents for strict confinement, including rescue and security services.
The eye of the cyclone passed over northern Mayotte early Saturday December 14, heading towards the coast of Mozambique, Africa. The passage of the eye causes “a false lull”, warned the prefecture. According to Météo France, Chido is expected to maintain significant intensity over the archipelago over the next 36 hours.
An interministerial meeting planned for Saturday evening
And already, the damage is increasing. In videos shared on social networks, residents show trees uprooted by the violence of the winds, houses being destroyed or dilapidated before their eyes, with roofs torn off. “The situation is catastrophic,” lamented the president of the association of mayors of this French overseas department, Madi Madi Souf. According to the resigning Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, “more than 15,000 homes are cut off from electricity”, she indicated in a post on.
The purple alert was lifted late Saturday morning, downgraded to red alert, so that “emergency services can provide assistance to those who need it most”, explained the prefecture. Bruno Retailleau, resigned Minister of the Interior, announced that “110 civil security soldiers and firefighters have been sent and are on site”. He added that a second dispatch would take place on Sunday, with 140 additional agents. An A400M plane with humanitarian cargo and civil security resources will also be sent “as early as this evening”, resigned Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu declared on Saturday.
“Faced with the seriousness of the situation in Mayotte”, an interministerial crisis meeting took place on Saturday evening, organized by Prime Minister François Bayrou, said Matignon. President Emmanuel Macron also indicated that he was following the situation “closely”, and assured that “the whole country is [aux] sides” of the Mahorais.