Sawt Falasteen - France assesses scale of Mayotte 'disaster' as aid arrives

French President Emmanuel Macron "will be in Mayotte on Thursday", his office announced, with officials warning of a death toll reaching hundreds -- possibly even thousands -- from the most destructive cyclone to hit the territory in 90 years.

The true scale of the disaster is still being assessed as rescuers raced to find survivors in the ruins of slums such as those in the capital Mamoudzou, while also unblocking roads and clearing rubble and downed trees.

Cyclone Chido, which hit Mayotte on Saturday before barrelling on to Mozambique, was the latest in a string of storms worldwide fuelled by climate change.

Experts say seasonal storms are being super-charged by warmer Indian Ocean waters, fuelling more powerful windspeeds.

A curfew from 10:00 pm to 4:00 am (1900 GMT to 0100 GMT) was imposed as a security measure to prevent looting.

A preliminary toll from France's interior ministry shows that 22 people were confirmed killed and 1,373 injured but officials are warning that the toll could rise exponentially.

"What I fear is that the toll will be far too high," French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who visited Mayotte on Monday, told BFMTV, describing "colossal damage".

"I have never seen a disaster of this magnitude on national soil," Prime Minister Francois Bayrou in a post on social media platform X. "I think of the children whose houses have been swept away, whose schools have been almost all destroyed and whose parents are extremely distraught."

Mayotte, located off southeastern Africa near Madagascar, is France's poorest region. An estimated one-third of its population lives in shantytowns whose flimsy sheet metal-roofed homes offered scant protection against the storm.

- 'Crushed everything' -

At Pamandzi, a small commune located off the main island, sheet metal debris and destroyed wooden structures were strewn as far as the eye could see.

"It was like a steamroller that crushed everything," said Nasrine, a Mayotte teacher who declined to give her full name, as she showed visitors around the informal neighbourhood of La Vigie, which was razed.

Health services across Mayotte are in tatters, while power and mobile phone services have been knocked out.

The airport is closed to civilian flights and there is mounting concern over how to ensure supplies of drinking water.

"Everyone is rushing to the stores for water. There is a general shortage," said Ali Ahmidi Youssouf, a 39-year-old resident walking on the road with a few bottles in his hand.

Bayrou said in Paris progress was being made with about 50 percent of the electricity network restarted, with a target of 75 percent "by the end of the week".

Macron, who chaired a crisis meeting on Monday night, was initially due to take part in a Brussels summit with EU leaders, but cut short his trip to go to Mayotte.

- Relieve 'exhausted' staff -

Mayotte is one of several French overseas territories that span the globe. Much of its population is Muslim and religious tradition dictates that bodies must be buried rapidly, meaning some may never be counted.

Assessing the toll is further complicated by irregular immigration to Mayotte, especially from the Comoros islands to the north, meaning much of the population is not even registered.

Mayotte officially has 320,000 inhabitants but authorities estimate about 100,000 to 200,000 more people, taking into account illegal immigration.

After hitting Mayotte, Cyclone Chido made landfall in Mozambique, claiming at least 34 lives and destroying 23,600 homes, authorities said.

French military planes have been shuttling between Mayotte and the island of La Reunion, also a French overseas territory, to the east that was spared the cyclone and is serving as the hub for rescue efforts.

An A400M aircraft arrived transporting 23 tons of water and food "to be distributed today (Wednesday)", Minister for Overseas Territories Francois-Noel Buffet told Europe 1 radio.

The French navy support and assistance vessel Champlain, which set sail from La Reunion, is also due to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday morning with 180 tonnes of freight on board.

A field hospital will be set up "by the end of the week" or "the beginning of next week" to relieve the damaged main Mayotte hospital and its "exhausted" staff, added Buffet.

O.Salim--SF-PST