Mayotte is recording, this Sunday, the terrible damage sown the day before by Cyclone Chido, “certainly several hundred” deaths, according to the prefect in the poorest department in France, where relief is being organized.
Cyclone Chido made “certainly several hundred” deaths in Mayotte, “maybe” even “a few thousand”declared Sunday the prefect of the French overseas department, specifying that it will be “very difficult” to have a final assessment. “I think there will certainly be several hundred, perhaps we will approach a thousand, or even a few thousand” of deaths, declared François-Xavier Bieuville on the public channel Mayotte la 1ère. He will be “very difficult to have a final assessment” given that the Muslim tradition, very anchored in the completely destroyed precarious housing neighborhoods, requires that people be buried “within 24 hours”.
According to the mayor of Mamoudzou Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, nine injured people were treated at the Mayotte Hospital Center (CHM) in absolute emergency, and 246 in relative emergency, this Sunday morning.
With gusts observed at more than 220 km/h, Cyclone Chido is the most intense to hit Mayotte in more than 90 years, according to Météo France. Extremely violent winds ravaged the archipelago with electrical poles downed, trees uprooted and sheet metal roofs or partitions blown away in a territory where precarious housing affects at least a third of the population.
The resigning Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau estimated on Saturday evening after an interministerial crisis meeting that he “will probably take days” pour “refine“the human toll. But”we are afraid it will be heavy“, he warned, speaking of a “dramatic situation“. He is expected there on Monday in the company of his overseas counterpart, François-Noël Buffet.
The cyclone moves to Mozambique
Tropical Cyclone Chido 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.“, said the director of the National Institute of Meteorology, Adérito Aramuge.
Unicef, for its part, indicated that it was on the ground to help people affected by the storm, which has already caused a lot of damage: “Countless homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or totally destroyed and we are working closely with the government to ensure the continuity of essential basic services“.
The storm is expected to bring thunderstorms and strong winds with gusts of up to 260 km/h to Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces, Mozambique’s meteorological services said. More than 250 mm of precipitation is expected in 24 hours.
Mayotte
cyclone Chido
France
