France will observe a day of national mourning on Monday for the overseas territory of Mayotte that has been devastated by a cyclone, President Emmanuel Macron said.
In a post on X, Macron said flags would fly at halfmast Monday, and “all French people are invited to pay our respects at 11:00 am (10:00 GMT)”, adding that “we all share in the pain of the Mahorais”, Mayotte’s population.
Visiting Mayotte, Macron told reporters on Thursday the government would also strengthen the fight against illegal immigration to the archipelago “while at the same time rebuilding schools, rebuilding homes, rebuilding the hospital, and so on”.
Macron arrived Thursday to the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte to survey the devastation that Cyclone Chido wrought across the French territory as thousands of people tried cope without the bare essentials such as water or electricity.
“Mayotte is demolished,” an airport security agent told Macron as soon as he stepped of the plane.
The security agent, Assane Haloi, said small children are without water or electricity and have nowhere to go because "everything is demolished.”
“There’s no roof, there’s nothing. No water, no food, no electricity. We can’t even shelter, we are all wet with our children covering ourselves with whatever we have so that we can sleep,” she said, asking for emergency aid.
Macron went on an helicopter for an aerial appraisal of the damage. He then headed to the hospital in Mamoudzou, Mayotte’s capital, to meet with medical staff and patients. He will then visit a destroyed neighborhood.
French authorities said at least 31 people have died and more than 1,500 people were injured, more than 200 critically.
But it's feared hundreds or even thousands of people have died after the strongest cyclone in nearly a century ripped through the French territory of Mayotte off the coast of Africa on Saturday.
Ahamadi Mohammed said Macron's visit “is a good thing because he’ll be able to see by himself the damage.”
“I think that we’ll then get significant aid to try and get the island back on its feet,” the 58-year-old said.
A navy ship was due to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday with 180 tons of aid and equipment, according to the French military.
People living in a large slum on the outskirts of Mamoudzou were some of the hardest hit from the cyclone. Many had lost their houses, some had lost friends.
Nassirou Hamidouni sheltered in his house when the cyclone hit.
His neighbor was killed when his house collapsed on him and his six children. Hamidouni and others dug through the rubble to reach them.
The 28-year-old father of five is now trying to rebuild his own house, which was also destroyed.
He believes the death toll is much higher than what’s officially being reported given the severity of what he lived through.
“The 30 deaths are too small for how the situation happened, it was very hard,” he said.
France has requested 10,000 tents and emergency accommodation from the European mechanism to aid Mayotte, said the French foreign ministry.
People on storm-ravaged Mayotte implored French President Emmanuel Macron to do more to help.
Mayotte, located in the Indian Ocean between mainland Africa’s east coast and northern Madagascar, is France’s poorest territory.
The cyclone devastated entire neighborhoods as many people ignored the warnings, thinking the storm wouldn’t be so extreme.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters and AP)