Families scramble to help after deadly cyclone rips through French territory of Mayotte off Africa

MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) — Relatives of families struggling after Cyclone Chido ripped through the French island territory of Mayotte expressed helplessness Wednesday, a day before France’s president and another 180 tons of aid were expected to arrive.

Some survivors and aid groups have described hasty burials, the stench of bodies and the devastation of precarious informal settlements whose population of migrants makes it even more challenging to determine the number of dead.

“A catastrophe of exceptional intensity,” French authorities said in an update Wednesday. “The island is devastated.” It noted 31 confirmed deaths but said the Muslim practice of burial within 24 hours could mean the real toll is quite different.

Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean off Africa’s east coast, is France’s poorest territory and a magnet for migrants hoping to reach Europe. Already, France's interior minister this week has proposed cracking down.

The cyclone on Saturday was the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century. It devastated entire neighborhoods on the collection of islands with winds that exceeded 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service. Many people had ignored cyclone warnings, thinking the storm would not be so extreme.

Now residents pick their way across a landscape in search of food as telecommunications remain tenuous and even sturdily built structures including health centers have been damaged.

Driving the streets of Mayotte, AP reporters saw destroyed houses, felled trees and people lining up for water. Dozens of French military personnel set up a makeshift camp at the airport.

French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Tuesday said more than 1,500 people were injured, including more than 200 critically, but authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died. Authorities said about 100,000 lived in a “precarious situation.”

On the French island of Reunion about a three-hour flight away, loved ones were coming together to donate aid for survivors. Some said their families in Mayotte had no food or water and roofs were blown off houses. It had taken days to make contact with some.

“It is difficult because I feel helpless,” said Khayra Djoumoi Thany, 19.

Anrafa Parassouramin also has family in Mayotte. “We are also afraid of disease outbreaks, because people are drinking water from wherever they can get it, and it’s not necessarily potable water,” she said.

Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq has raised concerns about the risk of a cholera epidemic on the archipelago which earlier this year had an outbreak of a highly drug-resistant strain of the disease.

French authorities said the distribution of 23 tons of water began Wednesday.

The French minister for overseas matters, François-Noël Buffet, told French radio Europe 1 that aid brought by plane has started being allocated to locations across Mayotte.

The minister said the water supply system was “working at 50%” and presented a risk of “poor quality.” Electricity had partially resumed.

Mayotte’s hospital was badly damaged. A field hospital should be operational by early next week, Buffet said.

A Navy ship was due to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday with 180 tons of aid and equipment, according to the French military. But the main airport could not accept commercial flights because of damage. The road network was also widely damaged.

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Mayotte on Thursday and visit a hospital and a destroyed neighborhood, his office said. “Our compatriots are living through the worst just a few thousand kilometers away,” Macron said in a statement.

Some residents of Mayotte have long criticized the French government of neglect.

On Tuesday evening, a program on public broadcaster France 2 raised 5 million euros ($5.24 million) in aid for Mayotte through the Foundation of France charity, the channel said.

Corbet reported from Paris.

This photo provided by the French Army shows soldiers clearing a road in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, Wednesday Dec.18, 2024, as the cyclone on Saturday was the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century. (D Piatacrrea, Etat Major des Armees/Legion Etrangere via AP)

This photo provided by the French Army shows residents queuing outside a military supplies center in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, Wednesday Dec.18, 2024, as the cyclone on Saturday was the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century. (D Piatacrrea, Etat Major des Armees/Legion Etrangere via AP)

This photo provided by the French Army shows a soldier unloading cans of food in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, Wednesday Dec.18, 2024, as the cyclone on Saturday was the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century. (D Piatacrrea, Etat Major des Armees/Legion Etrangere via AP)

This photo provided by the French Army shows soldiers clearing a road in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, Wednesday Dec.18, 2024, as the cyclone on Saturday was the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century. (D Piatacrrea, Etat Major des Armees/Legion Etrangere via AP)

This photo provided by the French Army shows a soldier giving a bottle of water to a resident in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, Wednesday Dec.18, 2024, as the cyclone on Saturday was the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century. (D Piatacrrea, Etat Major des Armees/Legion Etrangere via AP)

This photo provided by the French Army shows soldiers lifting a collapsed barrier in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, Wednesday Dec.18, 2024, as the cyclone on Saturday was the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century. (D Piatacrrea, Etat Major des Armees/Legion Etrangere via AP)

Smoke rises from destroyed dwellings Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

French troops arrive to give support Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

Smoke rises from destroyed dwellings Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

French firemen stand on the tarmac of the airport Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

This photo provided by the French Interior Ministry shows French gendarmes unloading supplies in Koungou, in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, Wednesday Dec.18, 2024. (Ministere de l'Interieur/Gendarmerie Nationale via AP)

People lineup to collect water Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

This satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Bandrajou in the Indian Ocean the French territory of Mayotte, on Dec.15, 2024, after the cyclone Chido. (CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)

This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN) shows Bandrajou, in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, before the cyclone Chido. (IGN via AP)

This satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows the port of Mamoudzou in the Indian Ocean the French territory of Mayotte, on Dec. 15, 2024, after the cyclone Chido. (CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)

This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN) shows Doujani in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, before the cyclone Chido. (IGN via AP)

This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN) shows Mtsapere, in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, before the cyclone Chido. (IGN via AP)

This satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Mtsapere in the Indian Ocean the French territory of Mayotte, on Dec. 15, 2024, after the cyclone Chido. (CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)

This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN), left, and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows the port of Mamoudzou, before and after of the cyclone Chido in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. (IGN/CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)

This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN), left, and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Bandrajou, before and after of the cyclone Chido in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. (IGN/CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)

This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN), left, and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Mtsapere, before and after of the cyclone Chido in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. (IGN/CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)

This satellite photo provided Wednesday Dec.18, 2024 by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Doujani in the Indian Ocean the French territory of Mayotte, on Dec. 15, 2024, after the cyclone Chido. (CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)

This undated photo provided Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024 by the French Interior Ministry shows gendarmes clearing a road in 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/Gendarmerie Nationale via AP)

This undated photo provided Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024 by the French Interior Ministry shows devastated houses in 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/Gendarmerie Nationale via AP)

Volunteers sort through donations for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

Volunteers sort through donations for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

Volunteers sort through donations for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN), left, and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Doujani, before, left, and after the cyclone Chido in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. (IGN/CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)

Volunteers sort through donations for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

This undated satellite photo provided Wednesday Dec.18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN) shows the port of Mamoudzou, in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, before the cyclone Chido. (IGN via AP)

People bring goods for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The kids seen by Dolores Mejia around suburban Phoenix have been growing heavier in recent years. Their parents, too, she says.

Mejia, a 75-year-old retiree, says she's also had her own weight struggles on the scale.

That's why Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s pledge to “Make America Healthy Again” as he campaigned alongside Donald Trump caught her attention. She liked the questions Kennedy raised about the role of processed foods in America's obesity epidemic.

“I’m a junk food person," said Mejia, an ardent Trump supporter. “I started wondering where those extra pounds came from.”

After hearing Kennedy out, she concluded: “We cannot trust the health organizations we’ve trusted for years to tell us that our foods are safe.”

Republicans such as Mejia have embraced Kennedy, whose alliance with the president-elect could make the prominent environmentalist and vaccine skeptic the nation’s top health official next year. Republicans hold an overwhelmingly positive view of Kennedy, with most approving of Trump’s decision to put him in his administration, according to recent polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters in the 2024 presidential election.

But Americans overall are less positive about Kennedy, and there isn't broad support for some of his views, which include closer scrutiny of vaccines.

If confirmed by the Senate, Kennedy will be charged with leading the Department of Health and Human Services, a $1.7 trillion agency that researches cancer, approves prescription drugs and provides health insurance for roughly half the country.

About 6 in 10 Republicans approve of Kennedy’s appointment to Trump's Cabinet and only about 1 in 10 disapprove, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in December, while the

rest aren't familiar with him or didn't have an opinion.

He's found allies in the most conservative corners of the Republican Party. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts credited Kennedy at an event on Wednesday for "sounding the alarm for years" about the what he sees as the dangerous nexus of government agencies, non-profits and corporations that have made Americans sicker and more obese.

Kennedy's talk of healthy foods is what captured the attention of Natalie Moralez, a 32-year-old engineer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who identifies as an independent.

She likes his promises to take on powerful companies. And she's eager to see him challenge the ingredients they use in the food she finds on supermarket shelves.

“Even just buying foods from the grocery store, like what else is in there?” Moralez said. “That’s my main concern, and hopefully he can figure out what the underlying issues are and see if we can do better.”

Kennedy doesn't fare as well among Americans overall, with about 4 in 10 U.S. adults disapproving and about 3 in 10 approving of his appointment.

Although Kennedy is a member of one of the most powerful Democratic dynasties in the country, most Democrats said they don't like that he's been named to Trump's Cabinet. About 6 in 10 Democrats “strongly disapprove” of the pick, the December poll found. That's a higher share of disapproval than other high-profile picks such as Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary or Marco Rubio for secretary of state.

Kennedy started his career as an environmental lawyer and won big lawsuits against companies over the chemicals used in weed killers and heavy metal smelters.

But in recent years, he's attracted a sizable and loyal following over his claims that vaccines, recommended and championed by the nation's public health agencies, are dangerous. That's despite decades of research, laboratory testing and real-world use that shows childhood vaccinations have prevented millions of deaths.

“There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective,” Kennedy said on a podcast in July 2023. During a Fox News interview the same year, he said he believes a repeatedly discredited idea that vaccines can cause autism. In recent days, Trump has increasingly suggested that the link between autism and vaccines should be studied — although decades of research has already concluded there is no connection between the two.

Trump and Kennedy allies have promised not to take away vaccines, instead saying they oppose government mandates and want to conduct more research on the vaccines.

But about half of voters want the government to be more involved in ensuring children are vaccinated for childhood diseases, according to AP VoteCast.

About one-quarter said the government’s current involvement on this is “about right,” and only about 2 in 10 wanted the government to be less involved. But parents of school-age children were somewhat more likely to support a smaller government role: Roughly 3 in 10 parents of children under 18 wanted the government less involved, compared with about 2 in 10 voters without children under 18.

Among Trump’s voters, about one-third wanted the government less involved in ensuring children are vaccinated for childhood diseases.

A similar share wanted the government more involved, and about 3 in 10 said its involvement was about right. Roughly 4 in 10 Trump voters who are parents of children under 18 said they want the government less involved in ensuring children are vaccinated, while about one-third said they wanted it more involved.

Kennedy’s anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them the AP, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.

People who voted in the presidential race this November held divided views on Kennedy, according to AP VoteCast.

Kennedy had dropped out of the presidential race by that point, throwing his support behind Trump, but remained on the ballot in some states.

About 4 in 10 voters had a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Kennedy, and roughly 4 in 10 had a very or somewhat unfavorable view. Slightly more than 1 in 10 did not know enough about Kennedy to have an opinion.

Republican voters — about two-thirds — were more likely to hold a favorable view of Kennedy, much higher than the roughly 2 in 10 Democrats who viewed him positively. Meanwhile, about 7 in 10 Democrats had a negative opinion of Kennedy, with about half saying they had a “very unfavorable” view.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,251 adults was conducted Dec. 5-9, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

AP VoteCast was a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for Fox News, PBS NewsHour, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. The survey of more than 120,000 voters was conducted for eight days, concluding as polls closed. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The survey combines a random sample of registered voters drawn from state voter files; self-identified registered voters using NORC’s probability based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population; and self-identified registered voters selected from nonprobability online panels. The margin of sampling error for voters overall is estimated to be plus or minus 0.4 percentage points. Find more details about AP VoteCast’s methodology at https://ap.org/votecast.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, walks to meet with Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, waves to the media as he rides the train to go to meet with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Robert Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department, meets with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Robert Kennedy Jr., second from right, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department, rides the Capitol subway as he travels between meetings with senators on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Robert Kennedy Jr., right, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department, meets with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, center, walks to meet with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Robert Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department, walks between meetings with senators on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, waves to the media as he rides the train to go to meet with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump greets Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at a Turning Point Action campaign rally, Oct. 23, 2024, in Duluth, Ga. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)