Authorities impose overnight curfew in cyclone-ravaged Mayotte as France rushes in aid

SAINT-DENIS, Reunion (AP) — 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.

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. “Our compatriots are living through the worst just a few thousand kilometers away, and I will be by their side in a few hours in Mayotte.”

“The priority today is water and food,” Soumaila told RFI radio, adding that “there are people who have unfortunately died where the bodies are starting to decompose that can create a sanitary problem.”

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.

“We don’t have electricity. When night falls, there are people who take advantage of that situation,” Soumaila said.

Speaking on France Inter radio Tuesday morning, Mayotte lawmaker Estelle Youssouffa described the challenges in accounting for victims, especially among migrants.

“The real toll of those swept away by the mud, winds and tin from shanty towns will never be known,” Youssouffa said. “This population, by definition undocumented migrants, are the main victims of this tragedy because they feared going to shelters.”

Youssouffa shared a harrowing account from an imam she spoke to on Monday, who reported burying more than 30 people in a single day in La Vigie, a makeshift settlement.

“I don’t even know if these figures are included in the official count,” Youssouffa said.

Soumaila, Mamoudzou’s mayor, said he planned to visit areas hit hardest by the cyclone on Tuesday, where survivors are still reeling from the destruction. Nearly 70% of Mayotte’s population has been impacted, with entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble.

The latest report from the French Interior Ministry says that 80% of telecom services were down, making communication on the archipelago difficult. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it has lost contact with more than 200 volunteers on the ground.

French military aircraft were delivering water and food daily. The island’s main hospital remains severely damaged, and a field hospital is expected to arrive Thursday.

“Our compatriots are living through the worst just a few thousand kilometers away, and I will be by their side in a few hours in Mayotte,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.

Meanwhile, the government released an initial 655,000 euros ($687,000) to finance urgent needs on the island. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has pledged 250,000 euros ($262,00) from the city’s emergency fund for recovery efforts.

Cyclone Chido is the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century, underscoring the vulnerability of the island’s impoverished population.

The cyclone is also threatening to escalate political tensions in France. Just days after taking office, Bayrou has faced criticism from across the political spectrum for his handling of the crisis. Critics have taken issue with Bayrou’s decision not to travel to Mayotte or attend a crisis meeting in person, choosing instead to chair a town hall in Pau, where he serves as mayor.

Bayrou responded by saying he participated in the crisis meeting via video and worked closely with Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who was on the ground in Mayotte. He explained that his focus has been on forming a new government.

Bayrou also announced a call for innovative housing projects, seeking designs for “easy-to-assemble” and “affordable” structures to aid in reconstruction.

“French companies and architecture schools will undoubtedly contribute to reshaping Mayotte,” Bayrou said.

He dismissed calls to declare a state of emergency on the archipelago, suggesting instead that Mayotte use European Union recovery funds and national solidarity initiatives. He highlighted the temporary field hospital set up by the French army to prevent disease outbreaks as a key example of ongoing support.

“We rebuilt Notre Dame in five years,” Bayrou said. “We’ve got less time than that to restore normal living conditions in Mayotte.”

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Nouvian reported from Paris.

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This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows damage of Collège de Kwalé on the French Territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean after Cyclone Chido, Dec. 16, 2024. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

This photo provided on Monday Dec. 16, 2024 by the Civil Security shows rescue workers clearing a street in French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. (UIISC7/Securite Civile via AP)

French civil security personnel load pallets of water on a transport plane for Mayotte from Saint Denis on Reunion Island, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

This undated photo provided on Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024 by the French Interior Ministry shows a devastated part of the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. (Ministere de l'Interieur/ Securite Civile via AP)

This photo provided on Monday Dec. 16, 2024 by the Civil Security shows part of the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. (UIISC7/Securite Civile via AP)

This photo provided by the French Interior Ministry Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, shows debris in a street in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. Survivors wandered through streets littered with debris, searching for water and shelter, after Cyclone Chido leveled entire neighborhoods on Saturday when it hit Mayotte, the poorest territory of France. (Ministere de l'Interieur/DICOM via AP)

This undated photo provided on Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024 by the French Interior Ministry shows a devastated part of the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. (Ministere de l'Interieur/ Securite Civile via AP)

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The New York architect facing murder charges in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings was charged on Tuesday in the death of a seventh woman.

Rex Heuermann pleaded not guilty to killing Valerie Mack, whose remains were first found on Long Island in 2000. Mack, 24, had been working as an escort in Philadelphia and was last seen by her family that year in New Jersey.

Some of Mack’s skeletal remains were initially discovered in Manorville, New York; authorities found more of her remains about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west, in Gilgo Beach, more than 10 years later. They were unidentified until genetic testing revealed her identity in 2020.

Human hair found with Mack’s remains was sent for testing earlier this year and found to be a likely match with the genetic profile of Heuermann’s daughter, prosecutors said in court papers. His daughter is not accused of any wrongdoing and would have been 3 or 4 years old when Mack died.

Heuermann, 61, is charged with killing six other women whose remains were found on Long Island. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

“The lives of these women matter. We, as investigators, understand that. No one understands that more than the families,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said at a news conference with Mack's parents and other victims' relatives.

The investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings dates back to 2010, when police searching for a missing woman found 10 sets of human remains in the scrub along a barrier island parkway, prompting fears of a serial killer.

Over the years, investigators used DNA analysis and other clues to identify the victims, many of whom were sex workers. In some cases, authorities connected them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier. Police also began reexamining other unsolved killings of women found dead on Long Island.

The case has dragged on through five police commissioners, more than 1,000 tips, and doubts about whether there was a serial killer at all.

Heuermann, who lived with his wife and two children in Massapequa Park on Long Island and commuted to a Manhattan architecture office, was arrested on July 13, 2023. At that point, he was charged with murdering Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy.

Earlier this year, he was charged in the deaths of three other women — Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor.

In a June court filing, prosecutors said they had recovered a file on a hard drive in Heuermann’s basement that he used to “methodically blueprint” his killings — including checklists with tasks to tick off before, during and afterward, as well as lessons for “next time.”

In court papers on Tuesday, prosecutors said the document, which was created the same year as Mack’s murder, includes details that align with her case.

For example, it names “Mill Road” — a road near where Mack’s first remains were found — under the heading “DS,” which investigators believe stands for “dump site.”

The document also lists “foam drain cleaner” under “Supplies.” Prosecutors say that on Oct. 3, 2000, Heuermann’s phone records appear to show him making two calls to a Long Island plumbing company, and he paid another company the following month to check his mainline drain.

In recent searches of Heuermann’s home and office, authorities say they found old magazines and newspapers with articles about the Gilgo Beach killings and investigation that prosecutors believe he kept as “souvenirs” or “mementos.” Among them was a July 29, 2003, copy of the New York Post that included an article about the disappearance and deaths of Mack and Taylor.

Prosecutors are also looking into the death of Karen Vergata, whose remains were first discovered in 1996 and finally identified in 2022 after a new DNA analysis.

In September, authorities released new renderings of an unidentified victim who was found in 2011. Officials said the victim, whom for years they had identified as male, may have presented outwardly as female and died in 2006.

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Suffolk County, New York, Police Department, Thursday May 28, 2020, shows Valerie Mack who went missing in 2000. The New York architect accused in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings has been charged in the death of a seventh woman. Rex Heuermann was charged Tuesday with killing Valerie Mack. (Suffolk County Police Department via AP, File)

FILE - Rex Heuermann, center, charged in the Gilgo Beach serial killings on Long Island, appears for a hearing, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, File, Pool)

FILE - Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney speaks to reporters during a news conference in Riverhead, N.Y., Thursday, June 6, 2024. Rex Heuermann, the New York architect accused of killing four women and leaving their bodies near Long Island's Gilgo Beach, has been accused in the deaths of two more women. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)