Mayotte authorities fear hunger and disease; race to help cyclone survivors

By Jean-Stéphane Brosse and Abdou Moustoifa

PARIS/MORONI (Reuters) - Authorities in Mayotte were racing on Tuesday to get food and water to residents stricken by the weekend's devastating cyclone and fighting to stop hunger, disease and lawlessness spreading in the French overseas territory, officials said.

Hundreds or even thousands could be dead in the wreckage of Cyclone Chido, they said. The storm laid waste to large parts of the archipelago off east Africa, which is France's poorest overseas territory.

With many areas still inaccessible, it could take days to determine the full extent of damage and deaths. So far, 22 deaths and more than 1,400 injuries have been confirmed, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, the mayor of the capital Mamoudzou, told Radio France Internationale on Tuesday morning.

"The priority today is water and food," Soumaila said. "There are people who have unfortunately died where the bodies are starting to decompose that can create a sanitary problem."

"We don't have electricity. When night falls, there are people who take advantage of that situation."

Rescue workers have been searching for survivors amid the debris of shantytowns that were bowled over by 200 kph (124 mph) winds.

Several people have been rescued in Mamoudzou, Sitti-Rouzat Soilhi, a communications officers for the city government, told Reuters, adding that more than 700 security personnel had been mobilised to aid residents and reinforce security.

French President Emmanuel Macron said after an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday evening that he would visit Mayotte in the "coming days".

Mayotte is a major destination for undocumented immigrants from the nearby Comoros islands, of which Moroni is the capital, and has been grappling with unrest in recent years. More than three-quarters of its roughly 321,000 people live in relative poverty.

Chido was the strongest storm to strike Mayotte in more than 90 years, French weather service Meteo France said.

(Reporting by Jean-Stephane Brosse and Makini Brice in Paris, Abdou Moustoifa in Moroni; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)