1 of 2 | Soldiers remove fallen trees in the French overseas territory of Mayotte after Cyclone Chido on over the weekend. Photo by Etat-Major Des Armee/EPA-EFE
Officials in the French island territory of Mayotte on Monday feared that hundreds could be dead as survivors emerged from the devastation of Cyclone Chido, which ripped through the poorest area of the region with powerful Category 4 winds of 140 mph on Saturday.
The storm left the territory, made up of two main islands between Madagascar and Mozambique coast in the Indian Ocean, with no power and power since it made landfall. Officials have confirmed 20 dead but authorities expect that number to skyrocket as they continue to search and rescue efforts. Advertisement
Officials said that there were about 100,000 undocumented immigrants living among the 320,00 island inhabitants, so coming up with accurate numbers of victims may take time. Downed power lines and heavily damaged roads have slowed rescue efforts, as well.
Officials said 85% of the territory remained without power Monday while 80% of the phone service is still offline. Some areas, however, started to receive drinking-water services again.
“The situation is catastrophic, apocalyptic,” Bruno Garcia, owner of Hotel Caribou in the capital city of Mamoudzou, said, according to CNN. “We lost everything. The entire hotel is completely destroyed. There is nothing left. It’s as if an atomic bomb fell on Mayotte.” Advertisement
French officials said it was the strongest storm to hit the islands in more than 90 years. Chido caused significant damage when it made landfall in Mozambique before weakening over the weekend.
Local Perfect Francois-Xavier Bieuville said with the Muslim tradition of burying the dead within 24 hours, it will be a struggle to get death counts since the storm hit the island’s poorest neighborhoods.
“I can’t imagine that we won’t have, unfortunately,” more victims,” Bieuville said, according to Le Monde. “Probably several thousand.”
