Air traffic will be suspended Wednesday in Mayotte, schools closed and shuttles between the two main islands at a standstill due to the passage near the department of a strong tropical storm, said Tuesday the prefecture in a statement. Scheduled outpatient visits to the only hospital in Mayotte are also canceled, according to a statement from the hospital.
Named Kenneth, the tropical storm will pass 200 km north of Mayotte Wednesday between 9h and 12h, said the departmental manager of Météo-France, Laurent Floch. It will generate gusts of wind of nearly 100 km / h, "heavy rainfall" and "very violent storms", added Laurent Floch. It will become cyclone Thursday, when it will pass around the Grande Comore, which should be "much more impacted than Mayotte" and should finish its trajectory on the east coast of Africa, he said.
Mayotte placed in triple vigilance
The prefecture placed the territory Monday evening pre-cyclone alert and Tuesday in triple vigilance: storms, strong winds and strong swell. This "cyclonic swell (...) can exceed 2.5 m in the lagoon and 4 m outside," she said.
To the extent that "a potential cyclone threat for Mayotte in the coming days exists", the prefecture asked the population not to go out to sea, to build a reserve of drinking water, candles, batteries and supplies. first need. The prefecture will also be closed to the public during this period.
Precarious housing is important in Mayotte: according to the latest Insee survey of 2017, four out of ten households live in housing made of sheet metal, wood, plants or earth. Generally spared from the lows, Mayotte was hit in March 2014 by Hurricane Hellen, which had caused at least 6 million euros of damage.