PARIS/MORONI—Several hundred people and possibly even thousands may have died when the most powerful cyclone in nearly a century hit the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, a senior local French official said Sunday.
“I think it will surely be several hundred, maybe we will reach a thousand, even several thousand,” said prefect François-Xavier Bieuville on the local Mayotte La 1ere communication channel.
When asked about the death toll from Cyclone Chido, the French Interior Ministry said “it will be difficult to account for all the victims” and that a figure could not be determined at this time.
Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte overnight, Méteo-France said, with winds of more than 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph), damaging homes, government buildings and a hospital. It was the strongest storm to hit the islands in more than 90 years, the meteorologist 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 Mamoudzou, the capital of Mayotte, told Reuters by phone.
Aerial images shared by the French gendarmerie showed the remains of hundreds of makeshift houses scattered across the hills of one of the islands of Mayotte, which have been a focal point for illegal immigration from nearby Comoros.
Local media images showed a mother pushing the crib of a newborn baby through the flooded corridor of the Mayotte hospital. Overturned police boats lay on the ground while coconut trees had destroyed the roofs of many buildings.
“My thoughts are with our compatriots in Mayotte, who have gone through the most horrible hours and who, for some, have lost everything, have lost their lives,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
In recent decades, thousands of people have attempted to cross from Comoros, off the coast of East Africa, to Mayotte, which has a higher standard of living and access to the French welfare system.
According to the French Ministry of the Interior, more than 100,000 illegal immigrants live in Mayotte.
It was difficult to determine the exact death toll after the cyclone, which also raised concerns about access to food, water and sanitation, officials said.
“As for the number of victims, it will be complicated, because Mayotte is a Muslim land where the dead are buried within 24 hours,” a French Interior Ministry official previously said.
Located nearly 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) from Paris, Mayotte is significantly poorer than the rest of France and has struggled with gang violence and social unrest for decades.
More than three quarters of Mayotte’s population live below the French poverty line. Tensions were fueled earlier this year by water shortages.
An airlift was being set up from Reunion Island, another French overseas territory on the other side of Madagascar, the government said.
The disaster is the first challenge facing Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, days after Macron appointed him following the collapse of the previous government.
The cyclone hit northern Mozambique on Sunday, but the full extent of the impact was unclear. Internet monitor NetBlocks said in X that heavy rain and winds had damaged electrical and telecommunications infrastructure.
In Comoros, two people were slightly injured, 24 displaced and 21 homes destroyed, authorities said.
France colonized Mayotte in 1843 and annexed the entire archipelago, including the Comoros, in 1904.
In a 1974 referendum, 95 percent supported separation, but 63 percent in Mayotte voted to remain French. Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli declared their independence in 1975. Mayotte is still governed from Paris.
By Michel Rose and Abdou Moustoifa
