Hundreds Feared Dead As Powerful Cyclone Hits France, Destroy Thousands Of Makeshift Homes

Rescue workers, including reinforcements hustled in from France, rushed to deal with widespread damage from Cyclone Chido on the French Indian Ocean island territory of Mayotte on Sunday.

The storm, now heading towards the coast of Mozambique, swept through Mayotte’s shantytowns, leaving widespread devastation. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has warned that the final death toll could be significantly higher.

The territory’s prefect, Francois-Xavier Bieuville, warned on local media that the numbers of casualties seemed sure to be high.

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A senior local French official warned that hundreds or potentially thousands likely died in the devastating storm. The French government warned that determining a precise figure might not even be possible. The French Interior Ministry, meanwhile, warned “it will be difficult to account for all victims,” saying that at present a figure could not be determined.

“I think there will certainly be several hundreds, maybe we will reach a thousand, even several thousands,” Bieuville said on local channel Mayotte La 1ere. Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte on Saturday, packing winds of more than 200 kilometers (120 miles) per hour, damaging housing, government buildings, the airport and a hospital.

Forecaster Meteo-France said it was the strongest storm to hit the Indian Ocean island not far from Madagascar in 90 years.

The new French government, only sworn in hours earlier by President Emmanuel Macron, held an emergency meeting on Saturday and dispatched more than 200 rescue workers and firefighters to the islands. 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.

Cyclone Chido also referred to as Chido-25, is a tropical cyclone currently being monitored in the Southern Indian Ocean. The storm has triggered significant alerts due to its potential impact on coastal regions.

For clarity, a cyclone is a large-scale air mass that rotates around a strong centre of low atmospheric pressure.

AFP