09:58 – The absence of François Bayrou in Mayotte noted
The absence of the Prime Minister in Mayotte was noted yesterday, especially since while the Minister of the Interior was speaking with the emergency services, François Bayrou went to Pau, the city of which he is the mayor, to attend the municipal council. “I would have preferred that the Prime Minister took the plane to Mayotte” declared the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, on Franceinfo. An opinion shared by the communist Fabien Roussel on BFMTV. The Prime Minister indicated Monday evening that he would visit the archipelago soon without specifying the date.
09:44 – All areas cleared, searches begin
While several areas were still inaccessible in recent hours, Gendarmerie General Lionel Lavergne indicated on BFMTV that 800 gendarmes are currently mobilized in Mayotte to help rescue operations. He assured that “the entire structuring network has been cleared to allow emergency services to access all areas, including more isolated areas” and to search for victims or survivors. Searches in the rubble are due to begin this Tuesday, notably with dog teams. The research will focus on certain shanty towns such as those located on the heights of Mamoudzou.
09:30 – “We must have the courage to call on international aid” says Roussel to Macron
“I took the initiative this morning to directly appeal to the President of the Republic. I ask him, I urge him, to quickly put in place emergency measures for accommodation where hundreds of thousands of people who are in complete destitution They lack accommodation, provisions, food, even the emergency services are not accommodated,” declared Fabien Roussel on BFMTV when calling on Emmanuel Macron. “We must have the courage to call on international aid and NGOs who know how to set up camps urgently,” he added, estimating that the State is “falling behind” in providing assistance and that it “ “We need hundreds and hundreds of relief items to go to the villages.”
09:14 – A curfew soon to be put in place in Mayotte
A curfew will be put in place from this evening from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. according to information from BFMTV confirmed by Le Parisien after a request from local parliamentarians. A request which would also have been investigated by the President of the Republic according to BFMTV. For the moment the Ministry of the Interior has not mentioned any curfew.
09:01 – 25 people evacuated to Reunion
“The first twenty-five medical evacuations of patients in urgent situations” took place on Monday between Mayotte and The meeting announced the resigning minister, Geneviève Darrieussecq. Other similar operations will be organized “in the coming days”, the minister also warned. These evacuations should allow the continuation of patient care and relieve congestion in the healthcare centers on site where “the situation of the healthcare system is very degraded” in Mayotte. As a reminder, the only hospital on the island was “very damaged” and the medical centers are “inoperable”.
08:50 – Mayotte “risks a health crisis” warns the departmental council
“In addition to the crisis we are experiencing, we also risk a health crisis very soon,” said Ben Issa Ousseni, the president of the departmental council of Mayotte, on Mayotte La 1ère. He points out the lack of access to drinking water which risks encouraging the proliferation of diseases, such as cholera which has been present on the island for several months or even dengue fever or chikungunya which are transmitted by mosquitoes. Other diseases transmitted by rats and other rodents are also feared. Patients affected by these pathologies could be difficult to care for while the health centers were also partly destroyed by the cyclone. This health crisis could also be accompanied by a risk of “starvation” according to Ben Issa Ousseni while some of the Mahorais are already suffering from hunger and thirst according to MP Salama Ramia.
08:38 – No new toll, but a large number of victims feared
The human toll of Cyclone Chido is still complicated to assess because not all the roads have been reopened, the search is far from over in the rubble and burials have already taken place for Muslim victims who, according to the religion must be buried 24 hours after death or discovery of the body. The latest official report dates from Monday evening and reports 21 deaths in hospital in addition to “45 injured in absolute emergency” and “1,373 injured in relative emergency”.
The toll risks further increasing seriously, warns General Lionel Lavergne on BFMTV. The island’s prefect estimates that the victims could number in “hundreds”, or even “thousands”. The toll could rise today with the start of searches in the rubble of shanty towns, particularly those located on the heights of Mamoudzou, as the mayor of the prefecture indicated on RFI.
16/12/24 – 11:03 p.m. – The first 25 patient evacuations carried out between Mayotte and Reunion this Monday
The resigning Minister of Health, Geneviève Darrieussecq, gave an update Monday evening on the evacuations underway in Mayotte. “Twenty-five first medical evacuations of patients in urgent situations” were carried out this Monday between Mayotte and Reunion, she told AFP, including The World is echoed in particular, specifying that “these medical evacuation operations will continue in the coming days” because the healthcare system is “very degraded” in Mayotte.