French prime minister unveils recovery plan for devastated Mayotte after Cyclone Chido
Associated PressPARIS — French Prime Minister François Bayrou arrived Monday in the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte to unveil a recovery plan three weeks after Cyclone Chido brought devastation. Bayrou, recently appointed as prime minister, also updated the death toll to 39 but urged caution, saying the final number could range from “a few dozen to a few hundred.” Days after the cyclone, Mayotte’s prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville, had warned of the possibility of “several hundred or even a few thousand” deaths. The prime minister said a draft emergency law aiming to rebuild Mayotte within two years will be submitted to parliament in January. In Mozambique, also hit by Cyclone Chido, the National Institute of Risk and Disaster Management said Sunday that 94 people had been killed.