Cyclone “Chido” hit the Mayotte archipelago in the Indian Ocean this weekend at a speed of more than 220 km/h. Entire cities were razed to the ground. The authorities fear thousands of deaths. The cyclone was the strongest to hit Mayotte in more than 90 years.
Rescuers are currently intensively searching for survivors. There is hope of finding people alive, said Colonel Alexandre Jouassard of the interministerial crisis center on France 2. Victims could still be found several days after the storm.
Mayotte is a French overseas department, located between Madagascar and the African mainland (Mozambique) and has approximately 321,000 inhabitants. Mayotte consists of two main islands.
“The death toll could not have been known for several days. “It will take days and days,” French acting Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said during a visit to the archipelago.
On Sunday evening, local prefect François-Xavier Bieuville told broadcaster Mayotte la 1ère about the death toll: “I think it is certainly several hundred.” A thousand people may have died in the storm.
Supply difficult
However, healthcare at the disaster site was difficult. France’s acting health minister, Geneviève Darrieussecq, spoke on France 2 of a “very deteriorated situation, with a very damaged hospital and non-functional health centers.” People must now also be particularly vigilant with regard to communicable diseases, for example through the consumption of contaminated water or spoiled food.
Many areas are initially inaccessible to helpers
Rescue workers headed overseas on Monday to search for survivors and restore supplies. The area remained largely inaccessible to aid workers, civil security spokesman Jouassard said. French President Emmanuel Macron has scheduled an emergency meeting on Mayotte, broadcaster BFMTV reports.
The cyclone moved on to mainland Africa
“Chido” then found its way to Mozambique on the African mainland. The storm reached speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, scores of homes, schools and health facilities have been destroyed and damaged in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
The region has been “severely affected”, although the extent of the destruction is still unclear. According to the Mozambican Center for Civil Protection, the electricity grid collapsed in Cabo Delgado and neighboring Nampula province, making rescue efforts more difficult.
Source: Krone
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