The French archipelago of Mayotte is placed on maximum alert on Saturday due to the arrival of the intense cyclone Chido, announced the representation of the State in this archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
“The eye of the cyclone will pass over the north of Mayotte between 9:00 a.m. (7:00 a.m. Belgian time) and 1:00 p.m. (11:00 a.m. Belgian time), causing a false calm“, warns on its X account the prefecture of Mayotte, a territory of 320,000 inhabitants placed on purple alert since 7:00 a.m. local time.
“Over the next 36 hours, Chido is expected to remain at significant intensity (…) it is expected to pass close to Mayotte” during the day, indicated the Météo-France agency. The cyclone, which is moving at 19 km/h, blows gusts of wind at sea measured at 230 km/h maximum, from the same source.
Météo-France warns of “destructive or even devastating winds, very intense rains and possible marine submersions“from the end of the night, foreseeing an improvement”from Saturday at the end of the day“. The French territory had already been placed on red alert at 7:00 p.m. GMT.
The representative of the French State in Mayotte, Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville, spoke at a press conference:an unprecedented event, of extreme violence“, with winds that can “depasser 180 km/h“. He called on people housed in precarious housing, very numerous in the poorest department in France, to confine themselves to one of the 71 accommodation centers opened by the authorities in schools and gymnasiums.
All traffic on public roads has been prohibited since 10:00 p.m. local time and Dzaoudzi international airport has been closed since 8:00 p.m. local time.
Belgium
