At least 11 people have died as Cyclone Chido caused devastating damage in the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, France’s interior ministry said on Sunday.
The intense tropical cyclone has now reached Africa’s east coast, where aid agencies are warning of more loss of life and serious damage in northern Mozambique.
The ministry said it was proving difficult to obtain an accurate count of the dead and injured in Mayotte amid fears the death toll could rise. A local hospital said nine people were in critical condition and 246 others were injured.
The tropical cyclone moved through the southeastern Indian Ocean, also affecting the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar. Mayotte was directly in its path and suffered extensive damage Saturday, officials said. The local prefect said it was the worst cyclone to hit Mayotte in 90 years.
French Interior Minister Bruno Reteleau said after an emergency meeting in Paris on Saturday night that there were fears the death toll in Mayotte “will be much higher” and that the island was largely devastated.
Prime Minister François Bayrou, who took office on Friday, said public infrastructure on Mayotte, including the main hospital and airport, had been seriously damaged or destroyed. He said many people living in precarious shacks in slum areas faced very serious risks.
According to the French weather service, Chido brought winds of more than 220 kilometers per hour (136 mph), making it a Category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale.
Mayotte has a population of just over 300,000 spread across two main islands about 800 kilometers (500 mi) off the east coast of Africa. It is the poorest island of France and the poorest region of the European Union. In some parts, entire areas were destroyed, while residents reported that many trees were uprooted and boats were overturned or sank.
The French Interior Ministry said 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers had been deployed “to help the population and prevent possible looting”.
More than 100 rescue workers and firefighters from France and the nearby region of Reunion have been deployed to Mayotte, and reinforcements of 140 people were due to be dispatched on Sunday. Supplies were being delivered on military planes and ships.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was monitoring the situation closely, while Pope Francis prayed for victims of the cyclone during a visit to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on Sunday.
Chido continued its eastern trajectory and made landfall early Sunday in Mozambique, the African mainland, where emergency officials warned that 2.5 million people in two northern provinces, Cabo Delgado and Nampula, could be affected. Landlocked Malawi and Zimbabwe are also preparing to be affected, with both countries warning they may have to evacuate people from low-lying areas due to flooding.
In Mozambique, the United Nations Children’s Fund said Cabo Delgado province, home to about 2 million people, was worst affected.
“Many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed, and we are working closely with them [the] The government will ensure continuity of essential basic services,” UNICEF said. “Although we are doing everything we can, additional assistance is urgently needed.”
As well as the immediate impact of the cyclone, communities now face the possibility of being cut off from schools and health facilities for weeks, UNICEF Mozambique spokesperson Guy Taylor said in a video posted by the group from the regional capital of Cabo Delgado. Used to be.
Cyclone season occurs in the south-eastern Indian Ocean from December to March and southern Africa has been hit by several powerful storms 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 the waterborne disease cholera 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, which contribute a small amount to global warming, having to deal with major humanitarian crises, which would undercut their calls for more help from rich countries to deal with the effects of climate change. Underlines.