The powerful Cyclone Chido, the strongest storm to hit the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte in nearly a century, may have claimed the lives of several hundred, possibly even thousands, according to a senior local French official.
“I think there will certainly be several hundred, maybe we will reach a thousand, even several thousand,” Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville told Mayotte La 1ère, a local media channel, on Sunday.
When asked about the death toll from Cyclone Chido, the French interior ministry said it was difficult to determine the number of victims at this stage.
Cyclone Chido struck Mayotte overnight, bringing winds over 124 mph, and causing significant damage to homes, government buildings, and a hospital. According to Meteo-France, it was the most powerful storm to hit the islands in more than 90 years.
“Honestly, what we are experiencing is a tragedy, you feel like you are in the aftermath of a nuclear war… I saw an entire neighborhood disappear,” Mohamed Ishmael, a resident of Mayotte’s capital Mamoudzou, told Reuters by phone.
Aerial footage from the French gendarmerie showed the devastation of hundreds of makeshift homes scattered across the hills of one of Mayotte’s islands, a region that has been a focal point for illegal immigration from nearby Comoros.
Local media images also captured a mother pushing a newborn’s crib through a flooded hospital corridor. Police boats were seen capsized onshore, and coconut trees had crashed through the roofs of many buildings.
“My thoughts are with our compatriots in Mayotte, who have gone through the most horrific few hours, and who have, for some, lost everything, lost their lives,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
In recent decades, thousands have tried to cross from Comoros, an island off East Africa’s coast, to Mayotte, attracted by its higher standard of living and access to French welfare benefits. According to the French interior ministry, more than 100,000 undocumented migrants currently live in Mayotte.
Authorities said it was difficult to confirm the exact death toll, as well as concerns about food, water, and sanitation access in the aftermath of the cyclone.
“For the toll, it’s going to be complicated, because Mayotte is a Muslim land where the dead are buried within 24 hours,” a French interior ministry official explained.
Mayotte, located nearly 5,000 miles from Paris, is much poorer than mainland France and has long struggled with gang violence and social unrest. More than three-quarters of Mayotte’s population live below the French poverty line, and tensions flared earlier this year due to a water shortage.
The French government is working to establish an air bridge from Reunion Island, another French overseas territory located on the other side of Madagascar, to assist with the crisis.
This disaster marks the first challenge faced by Prime Minister François Bayrou, who was recently appointed by President Macron after the previous government collapsed.
The cyclone later impacted northern Mozambique on Sunday, though the full extent of the damage was still unclear. According to internet monitor NetBlocks, heavy rain and winds caused significant damage to power and telecommunications infrastructure.
In Comoros, two people were slightly injured, 24 were displaced, and 21 homes were destroyed, authorities reported.
Mayotte has been under French control since 1843 and was annexed with the rest of the Comoros archipelago in 1904. In a 1974 referendum, 95% of the population of Comoros voted for independence, but 63% in Mayotte voted to remain French. The islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli declared independence in 1975, while Mayotte has remained a French territory.