Locals jeered and shouted their grievances Thursday during Macron’s visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago, five days after Cyclone Chido left a trail of destruction in its wake.
“It is a mark of respect, of consideration.”
A preliminary toll from France’s interior ministry shows that 31 people have been confirmed killed and 2,500 injured. But officials say that, realistically, a final death toll of hundreds or even thousands is likely.
As Macron inspected the destruction on the French overseas territory, local people were quick to air their grievances.
Macron finally blurted out: “I’m not the cyclone. I’m not responsible.”
During his visit to the Mamoudzou hospital centre, one woman told him: “Nobody feels safe here... people are fighting over water.”
One man in the group called the president’s attention to looting, saying thieves could easily enter houses that had had their roofs blown off, despite a nightly curfew.
Later, Macron said they aimed to have supplied all parts of the archipelago with food and water by Sunday at the latest.
Macron’s visit came after Paris declared “exceptional natural disaster” measures for Mayotte late on Wednesday.
“The tragedy of Mayotte is probably the worst natural disaster in the past several centuries of French history,“ Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said.
In response to widespread shortages, the government issued a decree freezing the prices of consumer goods in the archipelago at their pre-cyclone levels.
An estimated one-third of Mayotte’s population lived in shantytowns whose flimsy, sheet metal-roofed homes offered scant protection from the storm.
While Mayotte officially has 320,000 inhabitants, the authorities estimate the actual figure is between 100,000 and 200,000 higher when taking into account undocumented migrants.
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