Disaster linguicism in emergency planning? A case study of multilingual crisis management in response to Cyclone Chido in Mayotte, France

This case study article demonstrates the linguicism in French emergency planning which became evident as a result of Cyclone Chido hitting Mayotte, a French overseas territory, on 14 December 2024. It investigates the communicative practices and legislative framework adopted to inform the residents and evaluates them in relation to literature on multilingual crisis communication to assess how French emergency planning and crisis management response accommodated for the diverse linguistic and cultural needs of the people of Mayotte. Through an examination of emergency planning policies and various levels of national and local communication, this case study presents how Metropolitan France’s approach to Mayotte’s multilingualism appears to be disconnected from the needs of the local population, and the importance of including local stakeholders in crisis communication strategies. The disconnection is here investigated in terms of disaster linguicism. Potential areas for future research emerge from the evidence of failures in supporting Mayotte’s populations in accessing critical information. By looking at the case of Cyclone Chido through a linguistic and cultural lens, this article advocates for additional research into multilingual support in Mayotte, the practices of supporting non-Francophone populations, and the notion of co-design and co-creation of materials to enhance emergency communication planning.