AP reporter in Réunion explains French aid operation following Cyclone Chido

(17 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saint-Denis, Réunion - 17 December 2024
1. Aircraft carrying aid to Mayotte taxiing on apron at Roland Garros Airport
2. Various of military airport personnel preparing crates of bottled water for dispatch
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sam Mednick, The Associated Press:
++PART OVERLAID BY SHOTS 4 & 5++
"Behind me is the fourth French military plane (today) that's heading to Mayotte, to bring very much needed water, medicine and food to people who have been battered by the cyclone. This is the fourth flight of the day. They are hoping to scale it up to five or six in the next few days. The French say that hundreds of personnel, military, have been deployed to Mayotte since the cyclone happened. They say that they are able to get assistance on the ground, but once there, the infrastructure, the roads, the cars. They are hoping it is actually able to get it to the people who actually need it. Right here, this is the warehouse where assistance is being brought. It's being taken from here and it's being put onto these planes to reach people in Mayotte."
4. Transporter aircraft
5. Various of cargo on plane
6. Pan of airstrip and aid
STORYLINE:
French authorities on Tuesday announced an overnight curfew in Mayotte as they sought to stabilize the island territory in the aftermath of Cyclone Chido, the most intense storm to hit the Indian Ocean archipelago in 90 years.

The French military said it is sending four to five planes a day with up to 50 tons of assistance, including food, water and medicine.

Hundreds of military personnel have arrived since the weekend in Mayotte, an island group off Africa.

Rescue teams and supplies have been sent from France and Reunion.

"They are hoping (the assistance) is actually able to get it to the people who need it," explained Sam Mednick of The Associated Press, speaking from Roland Garros Airport in St. Denis, Reunion.

The official death toll from Saturday's cyclone rose to 22 according to the latest report from Mayotte Hospital quoted by Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, the mayor of the capital, Mamoudzou.

The newly appointed Prime Minister François Bayrou provided an update later on Tuesday saying that more than 1,500 people were injured, including more than 200 critically.

However, authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he will be traveling to Mayotte soon.

The curfew requires people to stay in their homes between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. as authorities try to prevent looting of damaged buildings.

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