President Emmanuel Macron announced a period of national mourning and a visit Mayotte "in the next few days." The United States and the European Union have proposed international aid to France. A surge of solidarity, triggered by numerous economic, charity, religious and public players, has risen up in France. On Monday, December 16, it was time to take stock of the scale of the disaster, two days after tropical cyclone Chido swept through and devastated the French territory of 320,000 inhabitants in the Indian Ocean.

"We're going to mobilize all possible resources, in civilian and military terms," assured Bruno Retailleau, the caretaker interior minister, during a lightning visit to Mayotte's biggest city, Mamoudzou. With Prime Minister François Bayrou still looking to form a cabinet, the government hopes to send two messages with its actions. The first: "The state wants to show its compassion for Mayotte." The second: it will "pull out all the stops" to rebuild the island and heal residents' wounds.

"The island is totally devastated, not a single place has been spared," said Retailleau, during a helicopter flight over the island. Struck by the "scant presence" of local residents in certain areas, he noted that people were "stunned, too."

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