Cyclone Chido in Mayotte leaves at least 14 dead, according to a still provisional report

At least 14 dead and nearly 250 injured: tropical cyclone “exceptional” Chido sowed chaos on Saturday December 14 in Mayotte, the poorest department in France, in the Indian Ocean, where precarious housing was completely destroyed, according to a still very provisional report, communicated Sunday morning to Agence France- Press (AFP) by a source from the security services.

According to the mayor of Mamoudzou, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, interviewed by AFP, 9 injured people were treated at the Mayotte Hospital Center (CHM) in absolute emergency, and 246 in relative emergency. Mayotte was hit hard by extremely violent winds which ravaged the archipelago, bringing down electricity poles, blowing away tin roofs and uprooting trees.

The resigning Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau estimated on Saturday evening at the end of an interministerial crisis meeting that he “will probably take days” pour “refine” the human toll. But “we fear it will be heavy”he warned, speaking of a “dramatic situation”.

Mr. Retailleau, who highlighted the “exceptional mobilization” of state services, spoke of a “precarious habitat completely destroyed” in Mayotte. This habitat concerns at least a third of the population. The resigning minister, who will go to Mayotte where he will arrive on Monday, announced the sending in “five successive waves of reinforcements for civil security until Wednesday”or approximately “800 people as well as equipment (…) but also medical staff ».

Fifteen thousand homes were deprived of electricity

Closed until further notice to commercial flights, the airport, where gusts reached 226 km/h according to Météo-France, suffered significant damage, particularly in its control tower. The resigning Minister of Health, Geneviève Darrieussecq, affirmed on the social network “the health system is seriously affected and access to care is seriously degraded”adding that “the Mayotte hospital center suffered significant material damage”.

The French Red Cross sent reinforcements of personnel to Mayotte from Reunion and France just before confinement, the humanitarian aid association said in a press release, fearing “immense needs” and prepositioning supplies of drinking water and food on site. The situation suggests severe water supply difficulties in an archipelago already subject to cuts.

More than 15,000 homes were deprived of electricity, according to the resigning Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher. Telephone calls, including emergency ones, have been drastically limited.

“Many of us have lost everything”

Secours populaire has launched an appeal for donations to help Mayotte, where more than three quarters of the approximately 320,000 inhabitants live below the national poverty line. An A400M plane was due to take off from mainland France on Saturday evening with humanitarian cargo and civil security resources, accompanied by a frigate and a helicopter.

“Many of us have lost everything”lamented the prefect of 101^e French department, François-Xavier Bieuville, reporting on the “the most violent and destructive cyclone we have experienced since 1934”.

The alert level was lowered from purple to red during the day to allow emergency services to come out, but the prefect called on the approximately 320,000 inhabitants of Mayotte to stay “confined” et “solidarity” In “this ordeal”. Communications with the territory remain very difficult.

“It’s time for urgency”President Emmanuel Macron declared on X, ensuring that “the whole country” was alongside the Mahorais. The resigning Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau announced a new dispatch on Sunday of 140 civil security soldiers and firefighters, bringing the personnel dispatched to the site to 250.

The technical services were activated in the afternoon to clear the roads and allow emergency services to pass. Some 1,600 police and gendarmes are deployed. Around 100,000 people living in “unsound dwellings”particularly in tin huts, had been identified in the archipelago by the authorities to be sheltered in more than 70 emergency accommodation centers.

The eye of the intense tropical cyclone moved away to the west and weather conditions became “improved quickly” late afternoon on the archipelago, according to the meteorological services. Chido was nevertheless to remain a cyclone “extremely dangerous” for long hours.

Chido hits Mozambique

The cyclone hit Mozambique on Sunday morning with strong winds and heavy rain. The cyclone appeared to have intensified as it crossed the Mozambique Channel overnight to make landfall about 40 km south of the town of Pemba in northern Mozambique, weather services said.

“The cyclone is already hitting Pemba with very high intensity. We are monitoring the situation but there has been no communication with Pemba since 7 a.m.declared to AFP the director of the National Institute of Meteorology, Adérito Aramuge.

Unicef, for its part, said it was on the ground to help people affected by the storm, which has already caused a lot of damage. “Many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed and we are working closely with the government to ensure the continuity of essential basic services”writes this UN agency in a press release.

The storm is expected to bring thunderstorms and strong winds with gusts of up to 260 km/h to the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula, Mozambique's meteorological services said. More than 250 mm of precipitation is expected in 24 hours. Video footage from Pemba shows heavy rains and trees bent by the wind. Houses were damaged by the storm.