France rushes supplies to Mayotte, still reeling from deadly cyclone

18/12/2024 16:32

France ramped up its relief operations to its cyclone-devastated overseas territory of Mayotte, with 120 tonnes of food due to be distributed on Wednesday to a population at risk of hunger and disease.



The Indian Ocean archipelago, France's poorest overseas territory, spent a first night under a curfew decreed in response to reported looting and lawlessness after Cyclone Chido struck over the weekend.



On Wednesday morning, residents of the capital Mamoudzou whose houses survived the storm hammered metal sheets to cover damaged roofs. Thousands of flimsier huts across the city's shantytowns were razed entirely, leaving fields of dirt and debris.



Hundreds or even thousands could be dead from the cyclone, the strongest storm to hit Mayotte in 90 years, French officials have said. Chido also killed at least 34 people in Mozambique and another seven in Malawi after reaching continental Africa.



Health workers say they are bracing for a surge of disease as dead bodies lie unrecovered and people struggle to access clean drinking water. The French government said on Tuesday evening there were no outbreaks at this point.