Mayotte - Epidemic risks, lack of water after the passage of cyclone Chido

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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.

In fact, the Mayotte hospital was partly destroyed by the bad weather, even though it is still operating, according to the resigning Minister of Health Geneviève Darrieussecq.

"The hospital is working in very poor conditions since it was hit by the cyclone, particularly in the essential areas such as intensive care, emergencies and maternity," she explained on Monday on the BFMTV set.

Several medical centres in Mayotte are also "inoperative", according to the resigning minister. This raises fears of significant consequences for the care of patients requiring treatment, whether or not related to the cyclone.

In fact, in this type of event, there are the injured "who are directly affected by the event", but also "those who will have accidents in everyday life in the coming days and who will not be able to be treated because the resources are saturated and inefficient", emphasizes Vincent Boune, head of the Toulouse Samu, specialist in emergency medicine, to BFMTV.

"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.

Now, it could make a comeback. In this case, we are talking about "anterofecal risk", explains Professor Vincent Boune, head of the Toulouse SAMU, a specialist in emergency medicine, to BFMTV.

"Basically, it's the contamination of drinking water by dirty water. We see it in major floods like this, where water recovery systems overflow and contaminate drinking water networks," he explains.

"The solution is first to boil the water, but unfortunately, it is very complicated when you don't have a source of energy or heating," notes the doctor, who mentions a "lasting" risk that will mark the island in the "weeks" or even "months to come."

The fear is all the greater since researchers from the National Cholera Reference Center of the Pasteur Institute, in collaboration with the Mayotte Hospital Center, have highlighted the spread of a strain of the cholera agent that is highly resistant to antibiotics, in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on December 12.

Difficult delivery of aid to the archipelago

In this context, Mayotte needs reinforcements in terms of equipment and medical personnel. But due to the geography of the place, Mayotte being an archipelago, the delivery of aid is particularly complex.

"It's a logistical nightmare," Estelle Youssouffa, Liot MP for Mayotte, told BFMTV.

"The island is very landlocked. Compared to Reunion, where there are supplies and aid, it's a three or four hour flight. The airport, which was already small, can now only accommodate military planes," she explains.

The Red Cross is located in Mayotte on the island of Basse-Terre. To access the main island, called Grande-Terre, "you need a barge to cross, but the barges are unusable," Florent Vallée, deputy director of operations for the Red Cross, explained to BFMTV.

"Once you've crossed and you've reached Grande-Terre, you're stuck, then you have to be able to transport (the medical equipment)," especially since many roads are currently impassable, he says, referring to the multiple challenges the NGO is facing. "That's what we're in the process of resolving. It's hard, it's a race against time," he acknowledges.

A heavy toll feared

For the time being, the water has been able to be "evacuated" from the Mayotte hospital and "there have been plans in advance to store equipment", indicated the resigning Minister of Health.

"A field hospital will be set up by Civil Security" and "100 reservists (from the health reserve ) will leave for Mayotte in the next few hours," she added on Monday.

https://www.bfmtv.com/outre-mer/may...passage-du-cyclone-chido_AV-202412160455.html

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See also:
Mayotte - Cholera outbreak 2024 - now over
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...87335-mayotte-cholera-outbreak-2024-now-over​

 

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Cyclone Chido Pummels Mayotte



December 14, 2024JPEG

A deadly cyclone ripped through the islands of Mayotte on December 14, 2024. Cyclone Chido’s hurricane-force winds downed electric poles, uprooted trees, and tore roofs off homes in the French territory, according to news reports.

Chido formed in the southeastern Indian Ocean on December 5, 2024. The disturbance rapidly intensified before hitting the Mauritian islands of Agaléga on December 11. The next day, the cyclone peaked in intensity, with sustained winds of about 250 kilometers (155 miles) per hour—equivalent to a strong Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Cyclone Chido continued to move west in an environment favorable for sustaining storms. That included warm sea surface temperatures of up to 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit) and low vertical wind shear.

After Chido’s center passed just north of Madagascar on December 13, the storm made landfall on northern Mayotte the morning of December 14 with sustained winds of 225 kilometers (140 miles) per hour. The image above, acquired by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-20 satellite, shows the cyclone at 10:15 a.m. Universal Time, about three hours after making landfall.

Chido was the strongest storm to hit Mayotte in more than 90 years, according to Météo-France. The European Union’s preliminary satellite assessment of the aftermath found widespread damage to structures in eastern and northern parts of Mayotte, including the populated capital of Mamoudzou on the main island (Grande Terre) and the airport on the eastern island of Pamandzi (Petite Terre).

After devastating Mayotte, the cyclone continued west and hit Mozambique on December 15. During all three landfalls, the storm carried winds equivalent to those of a Category 4 tropical cyclone.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Story by Emily Cassidy.

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/153708/cyclone-chido-pummels-mayotte

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Many feared dead after cyclone hits French island of Mayotte | REUTERS
...
Several hundred people, maybe even thousands, may have been killed by Cyclone Chido in the French archipelago of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, a senior local official said.
...
Read the story here:
https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...otte-archipelago-killing-least-11-2024-12-15/

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Cyclone Chido: the national gendarmerie deploys exceptional reinforcements to Mayotte

• By Captain Tristan Maysounave
• Published on December 16, 2024

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This Saturday, December 14, 2024, the island of Mayotte was swept awayby Cyclone Chido, the most violent in its history since 1934. To respond to this major crisis , the gendarmerie is preparing to deploy exceptional resources.

Cyclone Chido, which hit the 101st [SUP]French [/SUP] department this Saturday, December 14, 2024, caused a potentially very high number of victims and considerable damage. The latest provisional report in fact indicates 20 dead and thousands injured. Figures that are expected to increase in the coming hours according to the prefect of Mayotte, François-Xavier Bieuville.

Faced with this dramatic situation, the gendarmerie is engaged in a real race against time in order to deploy the necessary reinforcements as quickly as possible.

Ensure three priority missions

Alongside the personnel of the Mayotte Gendarmerie Command (departmental gendarmes and mobile gendarmes already deployed on the island), these reinforcements will have to contribute to three essential missions.

Ensuring public order. Many businesses and homes have been devastated by the cyclone. Several thousand homes are without electricity and running water. The population is in a state of shock. The context is conducive to a health crisis and the emergence of public order disturbances. Some individuals could also be tempted to take advantage of the situation to engage in looting. The gendarmerie is therefore immediately deploying a significant number of forces on the ground in order to reassure the population and dissuade any possible acts.

Contribute to relief efforts. Clear roads, participate in the delivery of food and materials, contribute to the action of Civil Security, so many missions that the gendarmerie soldiers have already started to carry out on site after the cyclone and which will intensify with the arrival of reinforcements.

Support and assist the operational maneuver of the Mayotte Gendarmerie Command (COMGENDYT). Like the buildings on the island blown away by the cyclone, many gendarmerie buildings have been damaged or even destroyed. Telephone and radio networks are experiencing failures. Many resources have also been swept away by Chido (vehicles, boats, etc. ). The objective is therefore to carry out the most urgent repairs, install the infrastructure essential to the operation of the gendarmerie and restore communications.

A two-part projection

On site, 1,600 gendarmes and police officers have already been deployed, including 800 gendarmes: 350 departmental gendarmes and 450 mobile gendarmes.

The objective is to project 200 additional gendarmes. To do this, the gendarmerie will first rely on its soldiers present on the island of La Réunion, given the latter's geographical proximity to Mayotte. A temporary marching company, under the responsibility of the La Réunion gendarmerie command, will thus be projected in the coming hours. It will be composed of departmental gendarmes, IT specialists, reservists and a judicial capacity, including Criminal Investigation Technicians (TIC), whose mission will include participating in the identification of bodies.

Two or even three additional Mobile Gendarmerie Squadrons (EGM) will also be deployed.

At the same time, specialized reinforcements and equipment are being sent from the mainland. The gendarmerie will deploy an Operational Support Group (GAO) responsible for organizing operations, providing support and providing resources. The National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute (IRCGN) is involved as part of the Gendarmerie Disaster Victim Identification Unit (UGIVC), which is one of the components of the Investigation and Identification Unit (U2I) .


https://www.gendarmerie.interieur.g...-deploie-des-renforts-exceptionnels-a-mayotte

 

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In Mayotte, why is it so difficult to establish an accurate human toll from the passage of cyclone Chido?

The latest provisional report communicated by the Mayotte prefecture on Tuesday reported 22 deaths. But the authorities fear "several hundred" victims, or even "a few thousand".

Article written by franceinfo
France Televisions
Published 12/18/2024 1:36 PM

An immense challenge, in a department where everything has to be rebuilt. After the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido over Mayotte on Saturday, the authorities are having great difficulty in counting the number of dead and injured it left behind. In the latest provisional report published on Tuesday, December 17 at midday, the Ministry of the Interior reported 22 people died in hospital, specifying that this report remained "very difficult to consolidate" . The same day, in front of the deputies, the Prime Minister, François Bayrou, was hardly more precise, mentioning "about twenty dead, 200 seriously injured", "1,500 injured in relative emergencies" and a report "not yet established".

From the first hours following the disaster, the authorities warned. "There will certainly be several hundred [dead], perhaps we will approach a thousand, or even a few thousand ," the department's prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville, explained to Mayotte la 1ère on Sunday . Faced with the scale of the task, the authorities ordered "the establishment of a mission to search for the dead" among the communities living in this department, the poorest in France. Why are the authorities having so much difficulty establishing an accurate toll? Franceinfo takes stock.

Significant material damage slows down rescue efforts

The destruction makes it difficult for relief workers to work and therefore access victims. The cyclone has ravaged the archipelago, where a large number of homes are fragile, even very precarious. According to the latest data produced by INSEE(New window), which date from 2017, four out of ten homes in Mayotte are made of sheet metal, earth or wood. Most often, the statistics institute specifies, these precarious homes are occupied by foreigners: 65% of them live in a house made of sheet metal, compared to 25% of French people born in the archipelago. "It's wood, sheet metal on hills made of beaten earth. You can imagine the wind that comes rushing in, plus the rain that creates mudslides ," Florent Vallée, the director of emergencies and operations for the French Red Cross, told AFP. Rudimentary materials that, for the most part, did not withstand the gusts of more than 230 km/h recorded on the archipelago. Even solid houses had their roofs blown away and their windows blown out, according to the testimonies of residents .

Infrastructure was also heavily damaged. The control tower at Pamandzi airport suffered significant damage and maritime links were cut. The Mamoudzou hospital was not spared . During the cyclone's passage, images filmed inside the facility show the ground submerged and caregivers trying to clean up, their feet in the water . Medical centers were also "inoperative" on Monday, according to the resigning Minister of Health, Geneviève Darrieussecq.

The damage is also very significant on the roads, even if "about 80% of the road network is accessible again" , assured François Bayrou in front of the deputies on Tuesday. "We are still in a phase of complete reconnaissance of clearing the access routes to go to the most isolated places and understand the impact and the consequences of this cyclone" , explains on France Bleu(New window)Jérôme Giron, president of the NGO Pompiers humainseurs français (PHF). On Tuesday, electricity was still being restored with the "restart" of "50% of the electricity network" , the Prime Minister tried to reassure. Non-potable water is once again accessible and 50% of drinking water "will be restored within 48 hours and 95% within seven days" , specified the daily government update. In total, 95% of the mobile phone network remained unavailable on Tuesday, according to Mayotte La 1ère(New window).

The actual population is difficult to estimate and sometimes to reach

On Tuesday, the Interior Ministry announced that 70% of Mayotte's residents had been "seriously affected" by Cyclone Chido, without being able to specify to what extent.The "real" toll of the cyclone will "never" be known to the authorities, deplores Estelle Youssouffa, Liot MP for the first constituency of Mayotte, "since it is an irregular, clandestine population" that is not declared to the local authorities. Mayotte officially has 321,000 inhabitants, according to the latest INSEE estimate.(New window)In its update on the situation, the Ministry of the Interior estimates that 100,000 people are living in precarious housing.

The count is all the more complicated because Mayotte is a land with a strong Muslim tradition and, according to Islamic rites, many of the deceased were probably buried within 24 hours of their death. It is therefore possible that victims have already been buried without having been declared to the authorities. "There are more burials than deaths reported. It will not be easy to have exact data ," acknowledges Yannick Le Bihan, from the NGO Médecins du Monde.

Finally, the number of unaccompanied children who are victims of the cyclone could also increase in the coming days. "There is a chronic phenomenon of orphans: when undocumented parents are expelled to the Comoros, they do not necessarily say that they have children... and sometimes drown trying to return , explained to AFP Jean-François Corty, president of Médecins du Monde . We do not really know where these children are today."

The relief effort was also affected by the cyclone.

Civil servants, members of rescue teams, caregivers... The staff on the front line to provide assistance to the population are directly affected by the disaster. "We have only managed to make contact with five members of our salaried team and five active volunteers, due to communication problems and power cuts ," Yannick Le Bihan, head of a Médecins du Monde team present on site, which includes 25 very active volunteers and 80 in total, told franceinfo. Our office has been hit and we can no longer use our equipment. Some members of our teams no longer have a roof or windows in their homes, and they have problems accessing drinking water and food."

The same observation was made by the Red Cross, which, on Tuesday, was still unable to contact 200 of its volunteers present on the archipelago. For its part, the Apprentis d'Auteuil foundation in Mayotte " has managed to contact around 70 people out of all [its] staff. Only 70 out of 220 to date" , confided to franceinfo(New window)Gwenola Coulange, the director of the organization.

For these organizations, "the priority, for the moment, is not to give a figure. It is to save the people that we can still save and to avoid a health crisis" , explains to Libération(New window)Eric Brocardi, spokesperson for the National Federation of Firefighters.

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/meteo/c...cis-du-passage-du-cyclone-chido_6960578.html​

 

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Mayotte: “tens of thousands of people” probably “buried under tons of mud,” warns Estelle Youssouffa

By Elisabeth Pierson
Published December 23 at 10:57 a.m., updatedDecember 23 at 11:32 a.m.

MP Liot, a guest on France Inter this Monday, expressed her fears about the scale of the human toll from Cyclone Chido, which devastated many overcrowded shanty towns.

At least 34 dead and around 2,500 injured. Nearly 10 days after Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte, this still provisional assessment by the National Institute for Risk and Disaster Management is in reality much higher, according to elected representative Estelle Youssouffa . MP Liot of Mayotte's first constituency estimates that the cyclone of December 14, the most devastating to hit the island in 90 years, would have actually caused "several tens of thousands" of missing people by ravaging informal neighborhoods populated by illegal immigrants.

"90% of Mayotte is destroyed, 90% of homes no longer have roofs. We have no water, no food, help is still struggling to reach the areas ," Estelle Youssouffa warned Monday morning, interviewed on France Inter, putting forward a human toll multiplied by the overpopulation in the shanty towns. " We do not know the number of people who died. We estimate that several tens of thousands of people are missing since these areas, which were extremely densely populated, are now almost empty," declared the elected official.

"Helping the living" is the priority

In the poorest department in France, rescue workers have been working to restore essential services such as water, electricity and communications networks. The authorities, who fear a very high number of victims, have launched a search mission to find the missing. According to Estelle Youssouffa, these people " have not disappeared" . "No bodies have been brought back by sea, there is no more vegetation for people to go to the forests. By deduction, these people are buried under tons of mud, rubbish and sheet metal," she reasons. " It is tragic, and this is what everyone must accept."

In this context, the MP believes that the priority is to " help the living", "save the survivors" by coming to the aid of the wounded "across the island" and " not just in the shanty towns" . " I desperately ask that the army be sent to try to prevent us from descending into anarchy", declared Estelle Youssouffa, describing scenes of looting on the fringes of the damage. " We are looting the few houses that simply no longer have a roof. There was not enough help, there is not enough help" , she warned.

Coincidence of the reshuffle

The elected official also says she is "deeply outraged" by the political class whose "general obsession" is "the reshuffle" of the ministers while the island "is in great humanitarian distress" . The announcement of the new government could be made this Monday evening , the same day that France observes a national mourning established by President Emmanuel Macron in solidarity with Mayotte. "In fact, we don't care about Mayotte. And that, frankly, is serious" , deplores the MP.

Earlier this Monday morning, it was the senator (RDPI) of Mayotte Saïd Omar Oili who, on FranceInfo , had expressed his disapproval of a possible coincidence between the appointment of the government and the tribute to the victims of the hurricane. " As usual, we are moving to second place" , he had let slip, estimating that " the Mahorais will be affected and hurt a second time" by this lack of consideration. Since then, the Élysée has announced that the announcement of a government would not take place before 6 p.m. due to this national mourning decreed for Mayotte.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-f...es-de-boue-alerte-estelle-youssouffa-20241223

 

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Mayotte: how is health surveillance adapting after the passage of cyclone Chido?

Public Health France, in collaboration with the health authorities, is implementing health surveillance adapted to the local context following the passage of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte and is today publishing a first specific epidemiological bulletin.

Published on January 3, 2025
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The passage of the intense tropical cyclone Chido, on December 14, 2024 in Mayotte, caused major material damage, affecting essential infrastructure but also healthcare provision structures. The exceptional situation in Mayotte generates numerous risks for public health. Faced with this crisis and the considerable impact on the usual actors (doctors, pharmacists, biologists, associations, etc.), adapted surveillance has been put in place to take into account current constraints. Thus, Public Health France is mobilizing with healthcare stakeholders, in order to detect early any event likely to represent a threat to the health of populations.

How is health surveillance organized in Mayotte after the cyclone?

The routine surveillance set up before the cyclone hit is no longer fully operational due to traffic difficulties and the absence of computer and communication networks. To address this, Santé publique France has set up an emergency surveillance system to directly collect information on the state of health of the population from local stakeholders in the field, including:

• Mayotte hospital center,
• ESCRIM (civil security field hospital coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior),
• reference medical centers,
• emergency accommodation centres spread across the country.

The agency has thus adapted its “Aller-vers” approach involving community-based monitoring established during the drinking water crisis in 2023 .
Today, the teams of Public Health France, reinforced by volunteers from the Health Reserve, are working in the field with its partners: the Regional Health Agency, the Mayotte Hospital Center, as well as mediators from health and social associations.
This mobilization of all makes it possible to maintain health surveillance and to publish an initial analysis of the health consequences of the cyclone presenting the main reasons for seeking care, in particular:

• wounds and trauma;
• decompensations of chronic diseases;
• diarrhea and respiratory infections;
• psychological disorders.

Health surveillance is likely to evolve as the healthcare system and means of communication are restored, in order to gradually return to routine surveillance, as it existed before the cyclone hit.

https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/...e-sanitaire-apres-le-passage-du-cyclone-chido

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Chido in Mayotte. Bulletin of December 31, 2024.


Published on January 3, 2025
Updated on January 3, 2025
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Key points

• Following the passage of Cyclone Chido on December 14, 2024, over Mayotte, epidemiological surveillance was adapted to the capacities of all stakeholders to describe the state of health of the population.
• At the Mayotte Hospital Center, trauma and wounds were the main reasons for referral; 1,440 visits to the emergency room were recorded from December 21 to 29.
• The ESCRIM (Rapid Civil Security Medical Intervention Element) field hospital has been operational since December 24. Between December 24 and 29, 2024, this hospital treated 1,170 patients, nearly a third of whom were for trauma (31.7%).
• A week after the cyclone, cases of superinfected wounds, sometimes requiring major surgical interventions (amputations, treatment of necrotizing fasciitis), were observed, reflecting delays in treatment.
• People visiting the reference medical centres and associated centres are mainly aged between 5 and 64;
• The bronchiolitis epidemic is still ongoing.
• Resumption of the rotavirus gastroenteritis epidemic.
• Nearly 48% of households surveyed during community outreach reported psychological disorders (stress, fear) exacerbated by the loss of housing and limited access to drinking water and food. Many cases of diarrhea, fever and cough were also reported.
• The destruction of infrastructure and limited access to drinking water increase the risk of waterborne diseases (cholera, rotavirus gastroenteritis), leptospirosis, as well as respiratory infections such as bronchiolitis.

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https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/...chido-a-mayotte.-bulletin-du-31-decembre-2024

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