CGTN Europe speaks to Nora Peter from the IFRC.
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00:00French President Emmanuel Macron says he'll visit cyclone-ravaged Mayotte after the worst tropical storm in a century.
00:07He declared national mourning, saying he would travel to the French Indian Ocean Territory soon.
00:13The search for survivors continues, with hundreds of people feared dead.
00:17Aid flights have been prioritized, with concerns over dwindling food and water and the spread of disease.
00:23Well, Nora Peter is from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
00:28Welcome to the program, Nora. Thank you for being with us.
00:30So you have teams on the ground in Mayotte, don't you? What are they telling you about the situation there?
00:35Good afternoon and thank you for having me.
00:39So what I hear from my colleagues is that the situation can be described as apocalyptic.
00:46Hundreds and maybe thousands of people and families have lost their homes.
00:52Many people are still unaccounted for.
00:56It's really difficult to assess the extent of the damage right now because the communication lines have been disrupted.
01:05Most of the island is still without electricity, phone connection or clean water sources for that matter.
01:17So it will take a few more days to really understand the toll of this cyclone.
01:26So it sounds like the recovery effort, if you like, is still in relatively early stages.
01:31But what's needed most there now?
01:35So for the moment, the biggest needs are food, water and shelter for the people.
01:43This storm has done a huge damage also because many people have been living in makeshift houses.
01:53Many of them are being undocumented migrants.
01:57So their immediate needs is to get a roof above their heads and to ensure that they have access to clean drinking water.
02:09We as the Red Cross are also trying to get a shipment of 30 tons of humanitarian aid to the island right now.
02:18This includes also reconstruction kits for people to be able to repair their homes,
02:27solar terminals so that they can charge their phones and restore communications
02:33or just let their loved ones know that they are safe and also essential hygiene kits
02:41because we know that the risk of waterborne diseases are increasing after such natural disasters.
02:50We are also trying to get in medical supplies and also some items for a modular hospital
03:02because many of the medical facilities on the island have been ravaged by the storm as well.
03:08And you talked about the communication lines being down.
03:12What are the other challenges of operating? I mean, it's a fairly remote area, isn't it?
03:16How difficult is it to work there?
03:20Yeah, it is very challenging at the moment because apart from the disruption of the communication lines,
03:29it's not easy to reach that island.
03:33So our nearest base is on the island of La Union,
03:39which takes a couple of hours by plane to reach from Mayotte and also a few days with the ship.
03:49So right now, our teams are working to establish an air or water bridge to get these aid supplies into the island.
03:58But we see that it's going to take some time.
04:01Nora, good to talk to you. Thank you for joining us on the program.
04:04That's Nora Peter from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.