In a landscape of devastation, Emmanuel Macron promised Thursday to “rebuild” Mayotte with new “criteria”, five days after the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido. Faced with the extent of the damage, the Head of State, initially expected for a few hours, announced that he would stay until Friday in the French archipelago in the Indian Ocean in order to visit more remote areas.
The Head of State also announced a “national mourning for this Monday, December 23”, nine days after the devastating and deadly passage of the cyclone. “We all share the pain of the Mahorais,” said the head of state on French archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
After visiting several places devastated by the cyclone, Emmanuel Macron went to the Mamoudzou hospital, where the discussion with the local authorities focused on the very complicated census of the number of deaths, while many localities, with homes precarious, remain unreachable. And in Muslim tradition, the deceased are buried as quickly as possible. “We are facing open-air mass graves. There are no rescuers. No one has come to recover the buried bodies,” says MP (Liot) Estelle Youssouffa. According to provisional figures, 31 deaths and some 1,400 injured have been officially recorded, but the authorities fear a much higher toll, with 70% of residents having been seriously affected. Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday in Mayotte that the number of victims of Cyclone Chido would “likely” be much higher. “It is likely that there are many more victims” than the 31 “officially counted to date,” he told the press. “We will be able to identify (…) additional victims, give them a name, be able to pay homage to them” thanks to the census mission set up by the prefect with mayors and religious authorities, he said. added.
A fund for the “uninsured”
To the Mahorais who expressed their needs and their dismay in the face of shortages, Emmanuel Macron tried to provide answers. “Telephony will be restored in the coming days,” he wants to reassure. “There will be 50% of electricity restored by tomorrow, roughly the same for water,” the president promises several times, before recognizing that for the most “isolated” municipalities, he However, it will take “several weeks”. The president also promised that all municipalities will be supplied with water and food “by Sunday evening”.
Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, rejected accusations of “resignation” of the State in Mayotte in the face of the devastation caused by Hurricane Chido and announced that the uninsured would benefit from compensation. “I can’t let it be said […] that the State would have resigned here”, he said upon discovering the damage in a district of Mamoudzou, capital of the department. “We are going to set up a compensation fund to support those who are not insured “, he added, without specifying the amount. Only 6% of individuals in Mayotte have home insurance. The costs of damage caused by the passage of cyclone Chido in Mayotte covered by insurance in the disaster regime framework natural resources were estimated on Thursday between 650 and 800 million euros by the French public reinsurer, the Caisse centrale de réassurance (CCR).
He then promised a “special law” to facilitate reconstruction. The Ministry of Overseas Territories announced Wednesday evening the activation of the “state of exceptional natural calamity”, supposed to “enable more rapid and effective management of the crisis” and “facilitate the implementation of emergency measures”. . In addition, Emmanuel Macron said Thursday in Mayotte that he wanted to “put an end” to shanty towns and “remove habitats which are both unworthy and dangerous” in which illegal foreigners often live. “In the long term, we want there to be no more of these slums,” the head of state declared to the press, believing that the “special law” that he promised to facilitate reconstruction should encourage their removal. .