A week after it was at its worst Storm Almost a century on, and a day after a testy presidential visit, France's impoverished Indian Ocean region of Mayotte is still busy counting the dead, restoring essential services and helping a suffering population.
Cyclone Chidu wreaked havoc in the peninsula. Already stretched thin, hospitals are overflowing with patients suffering not only from storm-related injuries but also from dehydration, malnutrition and disease.
At Mayuti Central Hospital in the capital Mamodzo, doctors faced crises.
“We lost 40% of the patient rooms, about 50 to 60 beds,” said Dr. Roger Sirhill, chief of the obstetrics and gynecology department. “There are so many patients coming into the hospital, and we don't have room to admit them.”
As Chedo lashed the peninsula last weekend with winds of 220 km/h (136 mph), Sarhil and her team delivered triplets, including by cesarean section.
Damage to the hospital's infrastructure has forced staff to triage patients, prioritizing the most serious cases. Although the official death toll is 35, the number of seriously injured has risen to 78, while 2,432 others have suffered minor injuries, according to the French interior ministry on Saturday. Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq warned that any estimate was likely too low “compared to the scale of the devastation”.
Emergency aid was being delivered by air and sea. Since the storm, 31 tons of food and 108 tons of water have arrived, with an additional 1.6 million liters of water expected aboard a container ship on Monday, according to the Interior Ministry.
The hospital is operating at 50 percent capacity, while 109 patients have been transferred to mainland France for urgent care. Three modern medical posts have been established on Grande Terre, the main island of Mayotte, to cope with the increase in need.
The storm has destroyed entire neighborhoods. Many people ignored the warnings, thinking that the storm would not be so severe. Worse, many migrants avoided shelters for fear of deportation, officials said, leading to hundreds or possibly thousands of deaths.
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Doctors fear that a lack of clean water and electricity – linked to overcrowded living conditions – is setting the stage for a health crisis. “Patients are coming because their illnesses are not treated, there is no water and no electricity. We are worried about epidemics, like the cholera outbreak we stopped just months ago.” said Dr. Vincent Giles, the hospital's emergency medical director.
Hospital staff continue to work tirelessly but resources are running dangerously low. “If we have rain, it will be devastating,” Sarhil said.
Among the patients struggling to recover is 54-year-old Sandu Mohammadi, who broke his arm and sprained his ankle when his house was completely destroyed during the storm. Speaking from his hospital bed, Mohammadi expressed his despair for his family. “My mom is sick, I'm sick, and my baby is sick,” she said. “They need to eat, but I'm the one who takes care of the food, and now we have nothing.” With six children to support, Mohammadi is among the many homeless and destitute residents.
“I'm not alone,” he said. “There are many of us who have lost everything – our homes, our food. I want the government to take care of us, give us food and a place to sleep.”
Mayotte, a densely populated archipelago of more than 320,000 people, is also home to an estimated 100,000 migrants, many of whom live in precarious conditions.
the poorFrance's overseas territory and, by extension, the EU has long struggled with systemic neglect and underinvestment. About 75 percent of its population lives in poverty, and the peninsula's infrastructure was ill-equipped to withstand a disaster of this magnitude. The disaster in Chido has compounded these challenges, leaving many residents with little confidence in the government's ability to provide timely and adequate aid.
Efforts are underway to deliver emergency aid, including airlifts of water and food, but the scale of the need is staggering. Mayotte's airport is closed to civilian flights due to damage, further complicating logistics.
French President Emmanuel Macron, during his visit on Friday, acknowledged the gravity of the situation and pledged to rebuild, but drew criticism from residents frustrated by the slow pace of aid.
Interior Minister Bruno Retellio painted a bleak picture, describing the archipelago as “completely devastated” – with nearly 70 percent of the population badly affected by the disaster, and many left homeless and vulnerable. For now, the island's residents and its extensive medical staff are left to deal with Chedo's dire consequences one day at a time.
and copy 2024 Canadian Press