Mayotte Grapples with Water Scarcity and Curfew Following Cyclone Chido

Tens of thousands of residents in Mayotte remain without access to water after Cyclone Chido severely impacted the French Indian Ocean territory, as search and rescue teams continue efforts to locate missing individuals. Preliminary data from France’s interior ministry indicates 22 deaths, though Mayotte’s prefect has cautioned that the final casualty count could potentially reach thousands. Health professionals are concerned about the potential spread of infectious diseases, given reports from residents of clean drinking water shortages and shops rationing supplies. Further aid shipments are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday. Islanders experienced their first night under a curfew, enforced from 22:00 local time on Tuesday until 04:00 on Wednesday (19:00 and 01:00 GMT), as part of measures designed to prevent looting. “Everyone is rushing to the stores for water. There is a general shortage,” Ali Ahmidi Youssouf, 39, informed AFP on Wednesday, carrying several bottles in the community of Pamandzi, located off the archipelago’s main island. Authorities have stated that their primary objective is to restore damaged water treatment facilities to operational status. On Wednesday, officials announced that the water system had been partially reactivated and expressed hope that 50% of the island’s population would have water access by the evening. The French government confirmed that 120 tonnes of food are slated for distribution on Wednesday, while President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit Mayotte on Thursday. Half of the territory continues to experience power outages. A recently imposed curfew requires people to remain in their homes for six hours overnight to deter looting. “We don’t have electricity,” Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, the mayor of the capital, Mamoudzou, told Radio France Internationale. He added, “When night falls, there are people who take advantage of that situation.” Mayotte is recognized as one of France’s most economically disadvantaged regions, with a considerable number of its inhabitants residing in shanty towns. Chido, identified as the most powerful storm to strike the archipelago in 90 years, brought wind speeds exceeding 225km/h (140mph) on Saturday, demolishing areas where people live in shacks with sheet metal roofs and leaving behind fields of dirt and debris. “It was like a steamroller that crushed everything,” Nasrine, a teacher who did not provide her last name, recounted to AFP from her destroyed neighborhood in Pamandzi. Another witness to the storm informed Reuters that roofs “flew away as if they were pieces of paper”. “A gust of wind broke the window and tore a wooden plank. The planks were 2m by 3m (6.5 by 9.8ft),” stated Diego Plato, a photographer with the 5th Foreign Regiment of the French Legion. He further mentioned that many of the legion’s buildings are no longer functional because they lack roofs. Rescuers are currently searching for survivors amidst the ruins, including in Mamoudzou, while simultaneously working to clear blocked roads and remove rubble and fallen trees. On Wednesday morning, residents of Mamoudzou whose houses survived the storm were seen hammering metal sheets over damaged roofs. Francois-Xavier Bieuville, Mayotte’s prefect, had previously told local media that the death toll could rise significantly once the full extent of the damage was assessed. He warned it would “definitely be several hundred” and could reach thousands. Chido also caused the deaths of at least 45 people in Mozambique and a minimum of 13 in Malawi, according to the disaster management departments of those countries. Officials have attributed Mayotte’s relatively low official toll to the inaccessibility of many areas and the fact that some victims have already been buried. The challenge is compounded by uncertainty regarding Mayotte’s population size. The territory officially has 320,000 inhabitants, but authorities estimate that approximately 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented migrants may also be living there. Initial figures from the interior ministry indicate that 1,373 people in Mayotte sustained injuries. France’s newly appointed Prime Minister François Bayrou informed parliament on Tuesday that there were “200 badly wounded and 1,500 wounded in a relative state of urgency”. “I have never seen a disaster of this magnitude on national soil,” Bayrou later posted on X. He added, “I think of the children whose houses have been swept away, whose schools have been almost all destroyed and whose parents are extremely distraught.” The government announced it was dispatching supplies via an air bridge from Reunion Island, another of its Indian Ocean territories. On Wednesday, 100 tonnes of food are scheduled for distribution on Grand-Terre, Mayotte’s larger island, with an additional 20 tonnes designated for the smaller island of Petite-Terre. A French navy support and assistance vessel is also expected to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday morning, carrying 180 tonnes of freight. The ferry service connecting Mayotte’s two main islands resumed operations on Wednesday, allowing some individuals caught out by the storm to return to their families. “I haven’t heard a word from my employees in five days,” a landowner taking the ferry, who declined to give his name, told Reuters. He described the situation as, “It’s back to the Stone Age.” Meanwhile, in Malawi, where Chido proceeded after moving through Mayotte, authorities report 13 fatalities. A statement from the country’s disaster management department indicated that up to 20 of Malawi’s 29 districts have experienced “mild to severe damages,” affecting approximately 35,000 people. The number of deaths and the extent of destruction in Malawi are lower than in neighboring Mozambique, where authorities have reported a death toll of 45. Experts suggest that seasonal storms like Chido are intensifying in strength due to warmer ocean waters. The cyclone presents an additional challenge for the government, following several months of political turmoil, which saw Bayrou’s appointment last week after the ousting of former Prime Minister Michel Barnier.