The French president spoke on Monday evening, while the resigning Minister of the Interior was on site.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday evening that he will visit “in Mayotte in the coming days” and that he will decree “a national mourning”.
Bruno Retailleau is already in Mamoudzou to supervise the arrival of help and express the support of the authorities after the passage of Cyclone Chido on the archipelago.
Mayotte had not recorded such a violent cyclone for 90 years.
The resigning Minister of the Interior assures that “all means” are mobilized to help the victims.
Bruno Retailleau, resigning Minister of the Interior: “The problem is that if these efforts are dispersed and if there is not extremely robust coordination logistics, it will be in vain. It is the work of the prefect and his teams and each of between you, and I am counting on you. The task is difficult. There will be discouragement because there will be a lot of fatigue.
Mayotte is the poorest of the French departments. Health services are devastated and the archipelago lacks water and food.
The human toll of Chido’s passage will be difficult to establish. The population has a tradition of burying the deceased within 24 hours of the death.
The slums are destroyed and the victims are probably in the hundreds.