The French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean suffered widespread damage from Tropical Cyclone Chido, officials said Saturday, as the storm headed toward the eastern coast of the African continent.
According to the French weather service, Chido packed winds of more than 220 kilometers per hour, blowing metal roofs off homes in Mayotte, which has a population of more than 300,000 spread across two main islands. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
“Our island is being hit by the most violent and destructive cyclone since 1934. Many of us have lost everything,” Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Beauville said in a Facebook post on Saturday. He said the highest alert has been lifted so that rescue workers can help after the worst of the cyclone has passed.
Mayotte is still under red alert for the general population and people have been asked to “remain confined to a concrete shelter,” Beauville said. Only emergency and security services were allowed out.
French Interior Minister Bruno Ritaleau said Mayotte had suffered a severe blow. “The damage already appears to be extensive,” he said on the X. “State and local emergency services are fully operational.”
Local broadcaster Mayotte La 1ère said thousands of homes were without power, tin huts and other small structures were blown over and many trees were blown down.
Reteleau said 110 rescue workers and firefighters, sent to Mayotte from France and the nearby region of Reunion, had been deployed and a reinforcement of 140 people would be sent on Sunday.
The nation of Comoros, a group of islands north of Mayotte, was also being affected by Chido and the highest red alert was declared in some areas. Officials said they were concerned about a group of 11 fishermen who had gone out to sea on Monday and there was no news of their whereabouts.
Comoros authorities have ordered all ships to remain anchored in ports and closed the main airport and government offices. Schools were ordered closed on Friday so people could prepare for the cyclone.
Chido is expected to continue its eastern trajectory and hit the African mainland Mozambique late Saturday or early Sunday, forecasters said. Mozambique’s disaster agency has warned that 2.5 million people in the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula could be affected.
Further inland, landlocked Malawi and Zimbabwe were making preparations. Malawi’s disaster management department said it expected flooding in some areas and advised some people to immediately evacuate to higher ground. In Zimbabwe, officials said some people should prepare for evacuation.
Cyclone season occurs in the southeastern Indian Ocean from December to March, and southern Africa has been hit by several powerful hurricanes in recent years.
Cyclone Idai in 2019 killed more than 1,300 people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Last year, more than 1,000 people were killed in several countries due to Cyclone Freddy.
Cyclones bring the risk of floods and landslides, but stagnant pools of water can later lead to deadly outbreaks of waterborne cholera disease – as happened after Idai – as well as dengue fever and malaria.
Studies say cyclones are becoming worse due to climate change. They could leave poor countries in southern Africa to deal with major humanitarian crises, which contribute a smaller amount to climate change.