The death toll from Cyclone Chido in Mayotte is ‘several hundreds’, official says

On By Littum

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – The death toll in the French territory of Mayotte from Cyclone Chido are “several hundreds” and could run into the thousands, the island’s top official told a local television station on Sunday.

France rushed rescue teams and supplies to its largely impoverished overseas division in the Indian Ocean, which has suffered widespread destruction.

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

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

Bieuville said it was extremely difficult to get an exact number of deaths and injuries after Mayotte was hit by the intense tropical cyclone on Saturday, which caused major damage to public infrastructure including the airport, flattened neighborhoods and knocked out electricity supplies.

The French interior ministry confirmed at least 11 deaths and more than 250 injured earlier on Sunday, but said it was expected to rise significantly.

Mayotte in the southwestern Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa is France’s poorest island and the poorest area in the EU. It has a population of just over 300,000 spread over two main islands.

Bieuville said the worst destruction had been seen in the slums of metal shacks and informal structures that mark 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 took the head off Chido

Chido blew through the southwestern Indian Ocean on Friday and Saturday, which also affects the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar. However, Mayotte was directly in the path of the cyclone and took the lead. Chido brought winds of over 220 km/h (136 mph), according to the French weather service, 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 more than 2 million people in the country’s north could be affected, according to authorities there.

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

Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims while visiting the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on Sunday.

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 rushed in on military planes and ships. Damage to the airport’s control tower meant that only military aircraft were able to fly in.

Patrice Latron, the prefect of Réunion, said authorities are aiming to establish an air and sea bridge from Réunion to Mayotte. About 800 more rescuers were to be sent over the coming days, and more than 80 tons of supplies had flown in or were on their way by ship. Some of the priorities were restoring electricity and access to potable water, Latron said.

The French interior ministry said 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers have been deployed to “assist the population and prevent potential looting.”

In some parts of Mayotte, entire neighborhoods of metal huts and shacks were flattened, while residents reported trees uprooted, toppled or sunk, and many areas were 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 across the surrounding fields and hills, where almost every tree had been flattened.

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

The cyclone hits northern Mozambique

Chido continued its easterly track into northern Mozambique, where it continued to cause severe damage, while further inland, landlocked Malawi and Zimbabwe warned they may need to evacuate due to flooding.

In Mozambique, UNICEF said Cabo Delgado province, home to about 2 million people, was the first region to be hit and that many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed.

UNICEF Mozambique spokesman Guy Taylor said communities faced the prospect of being cut off from schools and health facilities for weeks, and Mozambican authorities warned there was a high risk of landslides.

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

The cyclones entail the risk of floods and landslides, but stagnant pools of water can also spark later deadly outbreaks of the waterborne disease cholera as well as dengue fever and malaria.

Studies say that the cyclones are getting worse due to climate change. They may leave poor countries in Africa, which contribute little to global warming, to deal with major humanitarian crises, underscoring their call for more aid from rich nations to deal with the impact of climate change.

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Corbet reported from Paris.

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