French President Macron met with anger from Mayotte residents days after devastating cyclone

Residents told Emmanual Macron they weren't satisfied by the amount of aid that has been given to those affected by the cyclone, as ITV News' Ian Woods reports

French President Emmanuel Macron was met with anger from the residents of Mayotte days after the French overseas territory was hit by a devastating cyclone.

At least 31 people have been confirmed dead so far, but local officials fear the death toll could be much higher, reaching hundreds or even thousands.

Some residents have suggested there was a lack of support from Paris following the disaster and directed anger towards Macron during his visit.

"The water isn’t there, no services are there. After six days, is that normal?” one man angrily asked the French president.

A women, clearly distressed, told Macron that the archipelago “needs him.”

“Everything is demolished. We need you – there is nothing in Mayotte. We have young children, we are without water, without electricity,” she told the president.

There has also been a backlash to the amount of aid that has been given to those affected by the cyclone.

Macron brought four tonnes of aid to the territory on Thursday, BFMTV reported.

“Four tonnes of aid, that’s 100 grams of food or water per person. What is that? That’s a tin of sardines? If he brings us 40,000 tins of sardines, we’re happy, we’ll be content with that,” one local woman told public broadcaster France Info.

Another woman posted a photograph of two bottles of water, a can of tomatoes, and two other small tins of food on social media.

“Here is the so-called food aid distributed to the people of Mayotte,” she wrote. “Anger begins to mount.”

Macron announced on Thursday that France will hold a national day of mourning on Monday for those affected by the disaster.

“We all share the pain” of the people of Mayotte, he said.

When he arrived, Macron thanked airport officials who have been helping to facilitate the inflow of aid from La Reunion, another overseas French territory, BFMTV reported.

He was given a traditional red, black, and yellow Mayotte scarf, which he wore over a white shirt.

The French leader met with residents of Mayotte alongside its prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville.

Though he was originally planning on only staying in Mayotte for the day, Macron confirmed on Thursday afternoon that he would be staying in the territory overnight, according to BFMTV.

Macron also announced that the country will establish a compensation fund for those who are uninsured, and said that he will “rebuild” Mayotte with new “criteria,” BFMTV reported.

Many parts of Mayotte remain inaccessible after Cyclone Chido - the worst to hit the territory in at least 90 years - struck last weekend.

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The category 4 storm flattened neighbourhoods, knocked out electrical grids, crushed hospitals and schools and damaged the airport’s control tower.

Mayotte lies in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, just west of Madagascar. Made up of two main islands, its land area is about twice the size of Washington DC.

It has been difficult for authorities to assess the extent of the damage, in part because of the high number of undocumented migrants.

An estimated 100,000 undocumented migrants, many from neighbouring Comoros and Madagascar, live in Mayotte, according to France’s interior ministry.

Mayotte has struggled with poverty, unemployment, violence and a deepening migration crisis, which France has responded to with police crackdowns and mass deportations.

The government activated a state of “exceptional natural disaster” on Wednesday evening, a measure that has never been used, to help manage the crisis, according to the French overseas minister.

Authorities also froze the price of consumer goods, such as food and hygiene products, amid shortages. Local officials have warned that a lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation conditions could lead to a disease outbreak.

On Thursday, France’s health minister Geneviève Darrieussecq announced that France was putting measures in place to fight cholera if an outbreak occurs, having already pre-positioned 10,000 doses of vaccines against it.

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