Roofs torn off, trees uprooted… The first devastating images of Cyclone Chido which hit Mayotte

Roofs torn off, homes destroyed, trees uprooted… The Mahorais filmed the devastation of tropical cyclone Chido which hit their archipelago, Mayotte, hard this Saturday, December 14, with winds of up to 226 km/h. The alert on the island, first placed in purple at 7 a.m., was then lowered to red alert so that firefighters could intervene.

The prefect called on the 320,000 inhabitants to stay “confined» et «united» in this test. In the first images filmed by the Mahorais, squalls laden with rain fall on homes. Debris accumulated in the streets as the destruction continued. Fallen to the ground, the trees and their branches prevent all traffic.

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A human toll that risks being “heavy”

An interministerial crisis unit was held in the afternoon. The resigning Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, fears that the human toll will be “heavy”. “The situation is dramatic», he also warned, specifying that the cyclone was the worst that the archipelago had experienced since 1934.

Bruno Retailleau also announced the establishment of an airlift from the island of Reunion with military cargo planes. The airport control tower was destroyed but the runway is still passable for military aircraft. Supplies will also be brought by sea even if this requires more time – four days – as the port terminal has not been damaged.