Since 2023, French Guiana – an overseas department of France located in the northern part of South America, between Suriname and Brazil – is suffering from extreme drought.
In addition, the eighteen-month-long dry season French Guiana is now experiencing, came together with intense heat. The reports say 2024 was the hottest year in the region, just after the previous record year of 2023. According to Météo-France, the official French weather service, the current disaster was caused by both climate changes and El Niño–Southern Oscillation global climate phenomenon.
Regrettably for the local community, those climatic and weather factors caused not only some wildfires, but mostly reduction of the groundwater level and, in consequence, lack of access to clean drinking water and basic supplies.
The reason is everyday life of the whole region is dependent upon the rivers that now are at a historically low level. In the rainforest areas, where no roads exist, the rivers play a key role in transport of both people and freight, including food, fuel, medical equipment and other everyday supplies. For many remote settlements, the river was the only link to the outside world which cannot be used now.
Therefore, in response to this emergency, Préfet de Region (the prefect of French Guiana) decided to activate the ORSEC emergency plan. On 31st October 2024, the French authorities announced an airlift operation to begin in the region, jointly executed by Armée de l’air et de l’espace (the French Air and Space Force) and Forces armées en Guyane – FAG (the Armed Forces in French Guiana), aimed to supply food and fuel to communities located in the French Guiana region, as well as provide necessary support to isolated settlements.
The FAG aviation operations were being executed from the 367th airbase ´Captain François Massé´ (Base Aérienne 367), located at Cayenne-Félix Éboué International Airport.
Being the sole support point of the French Air and Space Force in South America, the BA 367 is home of l’escadron de transport 00.068 (the transport squadron 00.068) ´Antilles-Guyane´. Its fleet includes four AS555 Fennec and four SA330 Puma helicopters, as well as three CASA CN-235 light transport aeroplanes. Following the ORSEC procedures, the 68th squadron mobilised about thirty flight crews and around one hundred of other personnel to accomplish the aforementioned tasks.
During two months of the ORSEC mission, the FAG stood alert and provided maximum assistance to local population living in demanding conditions of complex environment, now affected by the droughts. The airlift operation made it possible to deliver food and fuel to remote locations as well as, for example, transport of students to their schools. It was estimated that governmental support was provided for more than 40,000 inhabitants of the French Guiana region.
The French term ORSEC stands for Organisation de la Réponse de Sécurité Civile (Organisation of the Civil Security Response), although is commonly abbreviated just to Organisation des secours (Rescue organisation). Within the ORSEC plan, the French authorities are trained to respond wide-range or long-lasting natural or industrialized disasters, including floods, earthquakes and industrial accidents.
A separate ORSEC plan exists for each department, as well as the central, national plan for the entire country. Within the plan, a general organisation structure is defined to specify the objectives, persons in charge, available and used resources, as well as the way they are used.
All photos © Armée de l’air et de l’espace / French Ministry of Defence. Information from the press releases of the French Ministry of Defence – published on the MoD page in January of 2025 – were used, in accordance to the etalab-2.0 licence.
