Mayotte, Cyclone-Hit French Territory, Imposes Curfew as Aid Is Rushed In

The authorities in the French archipelago of Mayotte introduced a curfew on Tuesday as they rushed to get food and water into the territory in the aftermath of a tropical cyclone killed at least 22 people and flattened entire neighborhoods.

Hundreds or even thousands are feared dead as a result of Tropical Cyclone Chido, which barreled into Mayotte, a series of islands off the eastern coast of Africa, over the weekend, with wind gusts of up to 124 miles per hour.

Officials who toured the area said the devastation had spared no corner of the tiny archipelago, France’s poorest territory. French officials have cautioned that counting all of the victims will be difficult, because roughly a third of the territory’s 320,000 residents are undocumented immigrants, and many live in shoddily built shanty towns that were torn apart by the storm.

The curfew will be enforced from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., France’s interior ministry said, although it said that unrest and looting had been minimal.

President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit in the coming days.

Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, the mayor of Mamoudzou, the capital, told RFI radio on Tuesday that over 1,400 people had been injured in the storm. The territory is often sheltered from the brunt of storms by neighboring Madagascar, he noted — but this time, the cyclone passed above the tip of Madagascar and hit Mayotte with full force.

“This natural phenomenon didn’t give our territory a chance,” Mr. Soumaila said.

He said that rescue workers had not yet reached many of the hillside shanty towns around Mamoudzou that were ravaged by the storm, leaving behind piles of uprooted trees and twisted corrugated iron.