At least 14 people have been killed in a deadly cyclone that hit the French Indian Ocean territory in Mayotte, officials said Sunday, with officials warning that it will take days to know the full death toll.
Rescue workers and supplies are being sent by air and sea, but their efforts are likely to damage airports and power distribution in the area, which already lacks clean drinking water.
A security source told AFP that 14 people were killed in a provisional list compiled by authorities.
Ambadilwahedou Soumaila, mayor of Mamoudzou, the capital of Mayotte, said nine people were seriously injured and fighting for their lives in hospital, while 246 others were seriously injured.
“Hospitals have been affected, schools have been affected. Houses have been completely destroyed,” he said. He said the storm “spared nothing”.
Mayotte’s 320,000 residents were ordered into lockdown as Cyclone Chido struck the islands about 500 kilometers (310 mi) east of Mozambique.
Acting Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said after a crisis meeting in Paris late Saturday that the gale, which was packing winds of at least 226 kilometers per hour, had “completely destroyed” several slums in the region.
Power poles were blown to the ground, trees were uprooted, and sheet-metal roofs and walls were torn off improvised structures, killing at least a third of the population.
“It will take several days to establish the full number of deaths”, but “we fear it is overwhelming”, Retailleau said, adding that the Muslim tradition of burial within a day of death could complicate the count.
A source familiar with recovery efforts told AFP that information has been slow to filter through to the locked-down population, which is in shock and largely cut off from water and electricity supplies.
Ibrahim, a local resident, told AFP of “apocalyptic scenes” as he made his way through the main island, having to clear blocked roads.
“Even the largest companies have suffered losses,” he said.
struggle for supply
Retaileau will travel to Mayotte on Monday, his office said, with 160 soldiers and firefighters, to reinforce the 110 already deployed to the islands from mainland France ahead of the storm.
The prefecture in La Reunion, another French Indian Ocean territory about 1,400 kilometers away on the other side of Madagascar, said medical personnel and equipment were being delivered by air and sea since Sunday.
Pope Francis urged people to pray for Mayotte residents as he visited the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on Sunday.
“Everything has been washed away, everything has been destroyed,” said a woman named Mounira, whose home was destroyed in the Kavenny district, east of Mamoudzou – France’s largest slum city.
Acting Environment Minister Agnes-Pannier Runacher has said that more than 15,000 homes are without electricity, while telephone access is severely limited, even for emergency calls.
Acting Transport Minister Francois Durovre wrote on Twitter that Pamandzi Airport on Petite-Terre, the smaller of the two main islands of Mayotte, “suffered major damage”.
storm hits mozambique
Northwest of Mayotte, the Comoros islands, some of which had been on red alert since Friday, were also affected, but suffered only minor damage.
Cyclone Chido later hit Mozambique early Sunday, bringing hurricane-force winds and heavy rain as it made landfall about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the northern city of Pemba, weather services said.
“The cyclone is already affecting Pemba with very high intensity,” National Meteorological Institute director Aderito Aramugay told AFP. “We were monitoring the situation, but since 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) There has been no communication with Pemba.”
UNICEF said it was on the ground to help people affected by the storm, which has already caused some damage.
“Many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed and we are working closely with the government to ensure continuity of essential basic services,” it said in a statement.
According to experts, Cyclone Chido is the latest in a series of storms caused by climate change around the world.
Francois Gourand, a meteorologist with France’s Météo France weather service, told AFP that the “extraordinary” cyclone was super-charged by particularly warm Indian Ocean waters.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday its strength was similar to Cyclones Gombe in 2022 and Freddy in 2023, which killed more than 60 and at least 86 people respectively in Mozambique.
It warned that about 1.7 million people were at risk, and said the remnants of the cyclone could bring “significant rainfall” to neighboring Malawi by Monday, potentially causing flash flooding.
It said that there is a possibility of heavy rain in Zimbabwe and Zambia also.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
