Hundreds, perhaps thousands dead after cyclone in Mayotte

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The death toll from Cyclone Chido in the French territory of Mayotte is in the “several hundred” and could reach into the thousands, the island’s top government official told a local broadcaster on Sunday.

France sent rescue teams and aid supplies to its largely poor overseas department in the Indian Ocean, which has suffered widespread destruction.

“I think there are a few hundred dead, maybe we’ll get closer to a thousand. Even thousands… given the violence of this event,” the prefect of Mayotte, François-Xavier Bieuville, told Mayotte la 1ere television.

He had previously said it was the worst cyclone to hit Mayotte in 90 years.

Bieuville said it was extremely difficult to establish an accurate number of dead and injured after Mayotte was hit by the violent tropical cyclone on Saturday, which caused extensive damage to public infrastructure, including the airport, leveled neighborhoods and the Power supply paralyzed.

The French Interior Ministry confirmed at least 11 deaths and more than 250 injured early Sunday, but said the number was expected to rise significantly.

Mayotte, in the southwest Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, is the poorest island in France and the poorest territory in the European Union. Just over 300,000 people live on two main islands.

Bieuville said the worst devastation was seen in the slums of metal shacks and informal structures that dot much of Mayotte. Referring to the official death toll so far, he said: “This number is not plausible when you see the pictures of the slums.”

“I think the human toll is much higher,” he added.

Mayotte had to take the brunt of Chido

Chido blew through the southwest Indian Ocean on Friday and Saturday, also hitting the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar. However, Mayotte was directly in the path of the cyclone and suffered the brunt. According to the French weather service, Chido brought winds of more than 136 miles per hour, making it a Category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale.

Chido later made landfall in Mozambique on the African mainland and there were fears that more than two million people in the north of the country could be affected, according to authorities there.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his “thoughts” were with the people of Mayotte and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau would travel to Mayotte on Monday. Retailleau had warned on Saturday evening after an emergency meeting in Paris that the death toll “will be high”, while new Prime Minister François Bayrou, who took office on Friday, said infrastructure across Mayotte had been badly damaged or destroyed.

Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims on Sunday during a visit to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.

France wants to open an air and sea bridge to Mayotte

Rescuers and firefighters were dispatched from France and the nearby French territory of Réunion, and supplies were also brought in by military planes and ships. Damage to the airport’s control tower meant that only military aircraft could fly in.

Patrice Latron, the prefect of Réunion, said authorities wanted to build an air and sea bridge from Réunion to Mayotte. Around 800 more rescuers were to be dispatched in the coming days and more than 80 tonnes of relief supplies had been flown in or shipped by ship. Some of the priorities include restoring power and access to drinking water, Latron said.

According to the French Interior Ministry, 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers are on duty to “help the population and prevent possible looting.”

In some parts of Mayotte, entire neighborhoods of metal shacks were leveled, while residents reported trees being uprooted, boats overturned or sinking and many areas without power.

Chad Youyou, a resident of Hamjago in the north of the island, posted videos on Facebook showing the extensive damage in his village and surrounding fields and hills, where almost every tree was felled.

“Mayotte is destroyed… we are destroyed,” he said.

The cyclone is raging in northern Mozambique

Chido continued eastward into northern Mozambique, where it continued to cause severe damage, while the landlocked nations of Malawi and Zimbabwe warned they may have to evacuate people because of the flooding.

In Mozambique, Cabo Delgado province, home to about two million people, was the first region to be affected, with many homes, schools and health facilities partially or completely destroyed, according to UNICEF.

Guy Taylor, spokesman for UNICEF in Mozambique, said communities could expect to be cut off from schools and health facilities for weeks, and Mozambican authorities warned that the risk of landslides was high.

December to March is cyclone season in the southwest Indian Ocean, and southern Africa has been hit by a number of strong cyclones in recent years. Cyclone Idai killed more than 1,300 people in 2019, mostly in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Cyclone Freddy killed more than 1,000 people in several countries in the Indian Ocean and southern Africa last year.

The cyclones pose the risk of floods and landslides, but standing pools of water can later lead to deadly outbreaks of the water-borne disease cholera, as well as dengue fever and malaria.

Studies say hurricanes are getting worse because of climate change. They can leave poor countries in Africa, which contribute little to global warming, struggling with major humanitarian crises, underscoring their calls for more help from wealthy nations to deal with the effects of climate change.

Imray and Corbet write for the Associated Press. Corbet reported from Paris.