Several hundred people and possibly even thousands may have been killed when the most powerful cyclone in nearly a century hit the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, a senior local French official said on Sunday.
“I think there will certainly be several hundreds, maybe we will reach a thousand, even several thousands,” prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville said on local media channel Mayotte La 1ere.
Asked about the death toll from Cyclone Chido, the French interior ministry said “it will be difficult to account for all victims” and a figure could not be determined at this stage.
Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte overnight, Meteo-France said, with winds of more than 200 kph (124 mph), damaging housing, government buildings and a hospital. It was the strongest storm in more than 90 years to hit the islands, the forecaster said.
“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 shared by the French gendarmerie showed the wreckage of hundreds of makeshift houses strewn across the hills of one of Mayotte’s islands, which have been a focal point for illegal immigration from nearby Comoros.
Local media images showed a mother pushing a newborn baby’s crib along the flooded corridor of Mayotte’s hospital. Capsized police boats lay onshore while 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,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.
In the last few decades thousands of people have attempted to make the crossing from Comoros, off the coast of East Africa, to Mayotte, which has a higher standard of living and access to the French welfare system.
Over 100,000 undocumented migrants live in Mayotte, according to the French interior ministry.
It was difficult to ascertain the precise death toll after the cyclone, which also raised concerns about access to food, water and sanitation, authorities said.
“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 said earlier.
Located nearly 8,000 km (5,000 miles) from Paris, Mayotte is significantly poorer than the rest of France and has grappled with gang violence and social unrest for decades.
More than three-quarters of the people in Mayotte live below the French poverty line. Tensions were stoked earlier this year by a water shortage.
An air bridge was being put in place from Reunion island, another French overseas territory on the other side of Madagascar, the government said.
The disaster is the first challenge faced by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, days after he was named by Macron following the collapse of the previous government.
The cyclone went on to hit northern Mozambique on Sunday, but the full extent of the impact was not clear. Internet monitor NetBlocks said on X that heavy rain and winds had damaged power and telecommunications infrastructure.
In Comoros, two people were slightly injured, 24 displaced, and 21 homes were destroyed, authorities said.
France colonised Mayotte in 1843 and annexed the whole archipelago, including Comoros, in 1904.
In a 1974 referendum, 95% backed separation but 63% on Mayotte voted to stay French. Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli declared independence in 1975. Mayotte is still ruled from Paris.
