Paris, Dec 18 (EFE).- The French government on Wednesday declared a ‘state of exceptional natural disaster’ in the archipelago of Mayotte for the first time following Cyclone Chido, which has so far left at least 31 people dead and 45 injured.
In a statement, Minister for Overseas Territories François-Noel Buffet announced the measure “to allow for faster and more effective management of the crisis and facilitate the implementation of emergency measures.”
“All resources must be mobilized to help and support our compatriots in this ordeal,” Buffet said.
The declaration followed the announcement that President Emmanuel Macron will visit Mayotte on Thursday, with his plane transporting 4 tons of food and health aid, as well as members of the emergency services who will stay there to help with the relief efforts.
In order to bring as much help as possible, Macron will travel with a limited delegation, according to sources from the Elysée in a statement.
During his stay, the French president will carry out an aerial reconnaissance of the territory and then visit a hospital, where he will meet with staff to take stock of the situation.
Finally, he will visit a destroyed neighborhood, meet with the emergency services and discuss the situation on the island with elected representatives, the sources added.
Macron will leave for the French overseas territory off the eastern coast of Africa after having participated on Wednesday in a summit between the European Union and the Balkans in Brussels. He will not attend the European Council scheduled for Friday, and after his visit to Mayotte he plans to travel to Djibouti, as part of the Christmas visits he makes every year to French troops abroad and, finally, make a short working visit to Ethiopia.
In the devastated archipelago, the death toll is rising slowly, with 31 dead and 45 seriously injured so far, although it is feared that the dead could be hundreds, while electricity, land and air communications and the internet are barely functioning.
The French government has established a curfew between 10 pm and 4 am to prevent looting on these islands, the poorest department in France.
The army is sending humanitarian aid with military cargo planes and local civil airlines, channeled through the nearby French island of Reunion. EFE
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