France's Mayotte struggles to recover as aid trickles in a week after cyclone

NEWS WIRES
·1-min read
People line up to collect water in Barakani, Mayotte, on December 21, 2024.

One week on from a devastating cyclone that battered France's Indian Ocean territory, aid is still only trickling in to the worst-affected areas in Mayotte, where emergency workers are scrambling to restore essential services and aid a beleaguered population.

One week after its worst cyclone in nearly a century, and days after a testy presidential visit, France’s impoverished Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte is still grappling with counting the dead, restoring essential services and aiding a stranded population.

Cyclone Chido wreaked devastation across the archipelago. Already stretched thin, hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering not only from cyclone-related injuries but also from dehydration, malnutrition and disease.

At Mayotte’s main hospital in the capital, Mamoudzou, doctors faced a cascade of crises.

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“We lost 40% of patient rooms, about 50 to 60 beds,” said Dr. Roger Serhal, chief of the obstetrics and gynecology department. “There are so many patients coming to the hospital, and we don’t have space to admit them.”

As Chido battered the archipelago last weekend with 220 kph (136 mph) winds, Serhal and his team delivered three babies, including by cesarean section.

Emergency aid was being delivered by air and sea. Since the cyclone, 31 tons of food and 108 tons of water have arrived, with an additional 1.6 million liters of water expected Monday aboard a container ship, according to the Interior Ministry.


Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:
Macron heckled as residents of France's cyclone-ravaged Mayotte plead for water
France imposes nighttime curfew on cyclone-hit Mayotte in bid to prevent looting

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