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At least several hundred people are feared dead after the most powerful cyclone in nearly a century hit a small French archipelago with winds of 200 km/h (124 mph), a senior local official said on Sunday.
Death toll on the islands of Mayotte could reach “a thousand, even a few thousand,” prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told local Mayotte news channel La 1ere, in forecaster Meteo-France said it was the strongest storm to hit the archipelago in more than 90 years.
Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte overnight and damaged a hospital, residential and government buildings, but France’s interior ministry warned it would be “difficult to account for all the casualties”, adding that they could not yet determine the death toll.
French President Emmanuel Macron said: “My thoughts are with our compatriots in Mayotte, who have gone through the most terrible hours, and who for some have lost everything, lost their lives.”
Mayotte has become a hotbed of illegal immigration from the nearby Comoros Islands, with more than 100,000 undocumented migrants in the French archipelago, the French interior ministry said.
Determining the exact death toll is difficult, the French official said, because Mayotte is “a Muslim country where the dead are buried within 24 hours.” There are also concerns about access to food, water and sanitation in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
Almost 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) from Paris and four days from the sea, Mayotte is significantly poorer than the rest of France and has been plagued by gang violence and social unrest for decades.
More than three-quarters of the approximately 320,000 residents live below the poverty line, and tensions rose earlier this year after water shortages.
An airlift is currently being deployed from Reunion Island – another French overseas territory on the other side of Madagascar – as new French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou faces his first challenge days after being appointed by Mr Macron.
The deadly cyclone also hit northern Mozambique, but it is unclear how much the impact was on the territory. Internet monitor NetBlocks said power and telecommunications infrastructure were damaged by heavy rain and wind. In Comoros, two people were injured, 24 were displaced and 24 houses were destroyed, according to the authorities.
Mayotte was colonized by the French in 1843, and the entire archipelago, including Comoros, was annexed in 1904. In a 1974 referendum, 63 percent of Mayotte voted to remain French, while 95 percent of the archipelago supported secession. Grand Chambers, Anjouan and Moheli declared independence in 1975.