It’s been revealed that the death toll in the French territory of Mayotte from Cyclone Chido is “several hundred” and may be close to 1,000, according to the island’s top government official .
While speaking to TV station Mayotte la 1ere, Mayotte Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville said: “I think there are some several hundred dead, maybe we’ll get close to a thousand. Even thousands. Given the violence of this event.”
While he was able to estimate that the death toll could be in the thousands, he added that it would be ‘extremely difficult’ to get an exact number following the intense tropical cyclone the Indian Ocean island faced on Saturday, which caused widespread destruction.
On Sunday morning, the French Interior Ministry was able to confirm that there had been 11 confirmed deaths and more than 250 injuries, but added that those numbers were expected to rise substantially.
Mayotte, which is located in the southeastern Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, is France’s poorest island and the poorest territory in the European Union. Bieuville revealed that the worst damage had been seen in the slums of metal shacks and informal structures that mark much of the island.
Talking about the current death toll, he said: “This figure is not plausible when you see the images of the slums.” So despite the official death toll, Bieuville is certain that the numbers are set to increase.
Storm Chido pummeled the southeastern Indian Ocean on Friday and Saturday, while also battering the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar. The tropical storm has now made landfall in Mozambique on the African mainland.
According to officials, Mayotte sat directly in the cyclone’s path and, as a result, suffered extensive damage. The local prefect has revealed that it was the worst cyclone to hit the island in 90 years.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Saturday night after an emergency meeting in Paris that there were fears that the death toll in Mayotte “will be high” and the island had been devastated. Prime Minister François Bayrou, who took office on Friday, said public infrastructure had been severely damaged or destroyed, including the main hospital and the airport. The storm brought winds in excess of 220kph (136mph), according to the French weather service, making it a category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale.
300,000 people live on Mayotte, which is spread over two main islands. In some areas of the island, entire neighbourhoods of metal shacks and huts have been flattened, with residents reporting that many trees had been uprooted, boats flipped or sunk, and the electricity supply knocked out.
Chad Youyou, a resident in Hamjago in the north of the island, posted videos on Facebook showing the extensive damage in his village and across the surrounding fields and hills, where almost every tree had been levelled. “Mayotte is destroyed … we are destroyed,” he said.
In a bid to help the residents of Mayotte, rescuers and firefighters from France and the nearby French territory of Reunion have arrived on the island, with supplies also rushed in on military aircraft and ships. Damage to the airport’s control tower meant only military aircraft were able to fly in.
Patrice Latron, the prefect of Reunion, explained that authorities aim to establish an air and sea bridge from Reunion to Mayotte. With more than 800 more rescuers set to be sent in the coming days, while over 80 tonnes of supplies had been flown in or were on their way by ship. He added that some of the priorities were restoring electricity and access to drinking water.
The French Interior Ministry said 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers have been deployed to “help the population and prevent potential looting.” French President Emmanuel Macron said he was closely monitoring the situation, while Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims of the cyclone while on a visit Sunday to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.
Chido continued its eastern trajectory and into northern Mozambique, while farther inland landlocked Malawi and Zimbabwe have been warned they might have to evacuate people due to flooding.
In Mozambique, UNICEF said Cabo Delgado province, home to around 2 million people, was the first region to be hit and many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed.
UNICEF Mozambique spokesman Guy Taylor said that communities faced the prospect of being cut off from schools and health facilities for weeks and Mozambique authorities warned there was a high danger of landslides.
December through to March is cyclone season in the southeastern Indian Ocean and southern Africa has been pummeled by a series of strong ones in recent years. Cyclone Idai in 2019 killed more than 1,300 people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Cyclone Freddy left more than 1,000 dead across several countries last year.
The cyclones bring the risk of flooding and landslides, but also stagnant pools of water may later spark deadly outbreaks of the waterborne disease cholera as well as dengue fever and malaria.
Studies say the cyclones are getting worse because of climate change. They can leave poor countries in southern Africa, which contribute a tiny amount to global warming, having to deal with large humanitarian crises, underlining their call for more help from rich nations to deal with the impact of climate change.
