A massive power outage struck Mayotte on December 23, affecting the entire overseas department. The incident, occurring in the early afternoon, disrupted communications and water supply. The prefecture reports that 92% of subscribers were reconnected by evening.
On December 23, around 1:35 p.m., a fault in an evacuation transformer at the Longoni power plant in northern Mayotte triggered a cascading failure across the entire electrical grid. According to the prefecture, the serious incident occurred at 2 p.m. local time (11 a.m. in Paris), causing a generalized blackout in the archipelago.
Electricité de Mayotte (EDM) deployed all available technicians to restore power. After unsuccessful attempts, reconnection stabilized around 4:30-4:45 p.m. By early evening, 92% of subscribers—about 50,000 households—had electricity back, and the company hopes for full restoration by the end of the day.
The prefecture states the situation is improving progressively, sector by sector. It is monitoring, in coordination with Mayotte's hospital center, home-hospitalized patients, and asserts the situation remains under control.
The outage extended to communications, disrupted by unpowered relay antennas, and to drinking water, with cuts resulting from impacts on production and storage infrastructure. Water production is returning to normal, though punctual interruptions may occur in the next 24 hours. The telephone network is being restored department-wide.
The prefecture urges residents not to overload phone lines and to avoid tampering with electrical connections until full restoration.
