At least 11 people were killed after the cyclone hit Mayotte, the strongest storm to hit the French Indian Ocean archipelago in the northern Madagascar archipelago in nearly a century, French weather forecasters and officials said.
Cyclone Chido passed through Mayotte overnight, Meteo-France said, carrying winds of more than 124 miles (200km) per hour and damaging housing, government buildings and hospitals. It was the strongest storm to hit the islands in more than 90 years, he said.
It was difficult to ascertain the exact death toll after the cyclone, which also raised concerns about access to food, water and sanitation, the authors said.
“For the taxpayer, it will be complicated because Mayotte is a Muslim country where the dead are buried within 24 hours,” said the French interior minister.
Mayotte is significantly poorer than the rest of France and has faced decades of rampant violence and social unrest. Tensions were leveled earlier this year due to water scarcity.