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   https://www.france24.com/en/france/20241216-rescuers-race-to-reach-survivors-in-french-territory-of-mayotte-after-cyclone or https://www.france24.com/en/france/20241216-rescuers-race-to-reach-survivors-in-french-territory-of-mayotte-after-cyclone ;
France used ships and military aircraft to rush rescue workers and supplies to its Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on Monday after the island group was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. Authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died.
Cyclone Chido leveled entire neighborhoods of metal shacks and other flimsy structures when it hit Mayotte, France’s poorest department, on Saturday. Entire hillside villages were reduced to a jumble of snapped trees and piles of corrugated metal and wooden frames of houses. 
Authorities used military-style vehicles to clear trees from roads so rescuers and supplies could reach those in need. The damage – including to the main airport – has left some areas still inaccessible to emergency teams, hampering authorities’ ability to assess the devastation and get basic necessities to survivors. 
French Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq said the official death toll stood at 14 but told France 2 television that was likely a major undercount “compared to the scale of the disaster.” 
Electricity supplies and communication lines have been knocked out to large parts of Mayotte, and authorities are concerned about a shortage of drinking water. Meanwhile, the main hospital suffered extensive damage.
People were also starting to go hungry, according to Mayotte Sen. Salama Ramia. She told BFM-TV that many people heading to shelters found dire conditions.
“There’s no water, no electricity. Hunger is starting to rise. It’s urgent that aid arrives, especially when you see children, babies, to whom we have nothing concrete to offer,” she said.
Mayotte, the poorest place in the European Union, is a densely populated archipelago of around 300,000 people, most of whom are Muslim, that sits between Madagascar and the African continent. Comprising two main islands, it has been under French administration since 1841. 
Many of its makeshift houses and roads were pummeled by Chido, which brought winds in excess of 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service. It was a category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale, and the worst to hit Mayotte since the 1930s, Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville said.
see also https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/earth-weather-astronomy-environment/volcanos-earthquakes-glaciers-fires-hurricanes/1002569-mayotte-epidemic-risks-lack-of-water-after-the-passage-of-cyclone-chido or https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/earth-weather-astronomy-environment/volcanos-earthquakes-glaciers-fires-hurricanes/1002569-mayotte-epidemic-risks-lack-of-water-after-the-passage-of-cyclone-chido ;

Epidemic risks, lack of water: Mayotte faces numerous health challenges after the passage of cyclone Chido

Juliette Desmonceaux and Margaux de Frouville

THE12/16/2024 at 12:52

Cyclone Chido violently struck the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, December 14, causing at least 14 deaths according to a very provisional report released by the authorities on Sunday. The territory now fears the spread of cholera, as its hospital was partly destroyed by the bad weather.

After the cyclone, Mayotte fears new health challenges. While at least 14 people were killed in the bad weather, the damage caused by the passage of cyclone Chido on Saturday, December 14 worries the authorities who fear epidemics, while the health system is further degraded by the passage of bad weather.
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"We are heading straight for a health disaster"

Furthermore, the authorities fear the spread of epidemics, while in Mayotte, the poorest department in France, housing is mostly precarious and sanitary conditions were already poor on a daily basis for many residents, even before the cyclone, and they will now worsen.

"If we don't act quickly, with the heat, with the rainy season coming, we are heading straight for a health disaster," warned Senator Rally of Democrats, Progressives and Independents of Mayotte Said Omar Oili on BFMTV on Monday, referring to many bodies probably still "under the rubble."

Former president of the community of the commune of Petite-Terre, an island in the Mayotte archipelago, the senator is particularly worried about the inhabitants of La Vigie, the "largest shanty town in France". "This (Monday) morning, people went to La Vigie and it's silent, we don't see anyone in the streets," he explains, fearing many deaths, risking further aggravating an already very difficult health context.

For the resigning Minister of Health, vigilance is required. "We will need very strong health monitoring with the detection of possible emerging contagious diseases coming from the consumption of polluted water or spoiled food," she told BFMTV.

Fear of a return of cholera

Among the feared diseases, cholera is of particular concern to the authorities, as the disease spreads through the consumption of contaminated water or food and can cause acute diarrhea or even death through dehydration. The archipelago had suffered an epidemic this year, which caused at least 5 deaths between March and July, but it had disappeared since the summer.

DJ, Vanuatu-quake, Mayotte cyclone in times of pandemics is further overstretching healthcare capacity...