Thousands are feared dead after an island in the Indian Ocean was hit by a devastating cyclone which carried 163mph winds and left a trail of destruction likened to the aftermath of a nuclear war. Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte, France’s poorest region, over the weekend, and has been considered the most violent that the island has experienced in almost a century. Chido’s dizzying winds tore through the archipelago and left buildings heavily damaged, vehicles destroyed, and the main airport and hospital completely wrecked.
Authorities previously reported at least 11 people killed by the vicious cyclone, but fears are rising that this toll could creep into the thousands as emergency workers race to find survivors. Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told local TV: ‘I think there are some several hundred dead, maybe we’ll get close to a thousand, even thousands… given the violence of this event.’ However, he said it was currently ‘extremely difficult’ to get an exact number. The Interior Ministry echoed these concerns, saying it could not confirm any figures at this stage, as a Mayotte local explained: ‘What we are experiencing is a tragedy, it feels like the day after a nuclear war. I saw an entire neighborhood disappear.’
French civil security spokesperson Alexandre Jouassard told the France 2 news channel: ‘The next minutes and hours are very important. ‘We are used to working in these conditions, and a few days after, you have pockets of survivors.’ Chido caused massive damage on Saturday, with the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar also affected, and the cyclone has now reached Mozambique. Horror images shared by the French gendarmerie show the colossal ruins of hundreds of makeshift homes scattered across the island’s hills, with fallen trees and garbage lining the streets.
At least a third of the territory’s 320,000 residents live in shantytowns, where homes with sheet-metal roofs were flattened by the storm. And with roads closed, officials fear that many could still be trapped under rubble in the inaccessible areas. The mayor of Mayotte’s capital Mamoudzou, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, chillingly said the brutal storm ‘spared nothing’. ‘The hospital is hit, the schools are hit. Houses are totally devastated,’ he said.
Some 160 additional soldiers and firefighters have now been sent to reinforce the 110 already deployed, as emergency services race against the clock to successfully carry out rescue missions. As authorities assessed the scale of the disaster, a first aid plane reached Mayotte on Sunday. It carried three tonnes of medical supplies, blood for transfusions and 17 medical staff, according to authorities in La Reunion. Patrice Latron, prefect of Reunion, said residents of Mayotte were facing ‘an extremely chaotic situation, immense destruction’. Two military aircraft are expected to follow the initial aid flight, while a navy patrol ship was also due to depart La Reunion.
On Sunday, the French President also shared a message of support to those on the island during a meeting with Pope Francis in Corsica. Emmanuel Macron said: ‘I want to spare a thought for our compatriots in Mayotte who have suffered the most terrible things in recent hours and who, for some, have lost everything, have lost their lives’. There have been international pledges to help Mayotte, including from the regional Red Cross organisation PIROI. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc is ‘ready to provide support in the days to come’. The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the WHO ‘stands ready to support communities in need of essential health care’.
With around 100,000 people estimated to live clandestinely on Mayotte, according to France’s interior ministry, establishing how many people have been affected by the cyclone is proving difficult. Ousseni Balahachi, a former nurse, said some people did not dare venture out to seek assistance, ‘fearing it would be a trap’ designed to remove them from Mayotte. Many had stayed put ‘until the last minute’ when it proved too late to escape the cyclone, she added. Authorities had already warned on Saturday that it would take several days to establish a reliable assessment of the human and material damage caused by the cyclone, while fears are high about access to food, water and emergency shelter.
The prefect of La Réunion, Patrice Latron, announced on Sunday the establishment of a sea bridge and an air bridge between the island and Mayotte, approximately 1,400 km apart, with the dispatch of a first ship from the French Navy carrying 80 tonnes of equipment, including medicines, food and materials to restore water and electricity services. Chido blasted across the Indian Ocean and made landfall in Mozambique on Sunday, where officials said the death toll stood at three. The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, warned 1.7 million people were in danger and the remnants of the cyclone could also dump ‘significant rainfall’ on Malawi through Monday.
‘Many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed and we are working closely with government to ensure continuity of essential basic services,’ UNICEF said. ‘While we are doing everything we can, additional support is urgently needed.’
UNICEF Mozambique spokesman Guy Taylor said in a video that communities now face the prospect of being cut off from schools and health facilities for weeks. Malawi and Zimbabwe have also made emergency plans, with both warning they may have to rapidly evacuate low-lying areas due to flood risks.
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