Families in Mayotte express helplessness after Cyclone Chido hits the French island

MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) – Relatives of families struggling after Cyclone Chido hit the French island of Mayotte expressed helplessness Wednesday, a day before the French president and 180 tons of aid arrived.

Some survivors and aid organizations described hasty burials, the stench of corpses and the destruction of shantytowns by the migrant population making it even more difficult to ascertain the death toll.

Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, is the poorest region of France and attracts migrants hoping to reach Europe. Already, the French interior minister this week has proposed a ban.

Saturday’s storm was the worst to hit the area in nearly a century. It devastated the entire archipelago with winds of more than 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service. Many people ignored the storm warnings, thinking that the storm would not be too bad.

Residents are now making their way through the area in search of water and food as communications are still weak and buildings built to last, including health facilities, have been damaged.

French Prime Minister François Bayrou said on Tuesday that more than 1,500 people had been injured, including more than 200 seriously, but authorities feared hundreds and possibly thousands more.

On the French island of Reunion, about a three-hour plane ride away, loved ones gathered together to offer aid to survivors. Some said their families in Mayotte have no food and water and the roofs are blowing off their houses. It had taken days to communicate with others.

“It’s hard because I feel powerless,” said Khayra Djoumoi Thany, 19.

Anrafa Parassouramin also has family in Mayotte. “We are afraid of the outbreak of diseases, because people drink water wherever they can find it, and it is not potable water,” he said.

The Minister of Health, Geneviève Darrieussecq, has expressed concern about the risk of a cholera epidemic in the archipelago, which earlier this year saw an outbreak of drug-resistant disease.

French authorities say the distribution of 23 tons of water began on Wednesday.

The minister of overseas affairs, François-Noël Buffet, told France’s Europe 1 radio station that airlifted aid has begun to be delivered to areas in Mayotte.

The minister said the water supply system is “working at 50%” and poses a “low level” risk. The electricity had started to go down a bit.

Mayotte’s hospital was badly damaged. The field hospital should be up and running by early next week, Buffett said.

A Navy ship was due to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday with 180 tons of aid and equipment, according to the French military.

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Mayotte on Thursday, his office said. “Our people live in a worse place a few thousand kilometers away,” Macron said in a statement.

Some residents of Mayotte have long criticized the French government for neglect.

On Tuesday evening, public broadcaster France 2 raised 5 million euros ($5.24 million) in aid to Mayotte through the charity Foundation of France, the channel said.

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Corbet reported from Paris.