Satellite images have laid bare the scale of the damage to the Mayotte archipelago after cyclone Chido made landfall on Saturday.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are feared dead in the French Indian Ocean territory after its worst cyclone in nearly a century. French President Emmanuel Macron said he will declare a national mourning period and planned to visit in the coming days after “this tragedy that has shaken each of us.”
In Mamoudzou, the capital, destruction was widespread, with schools, hospitals, restaurants and offices in ruins. Roofs were ripped from homes, and palm trees were half-shorn from winds that exceeded 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service.
Satellite images of the capital released by Maxar Technologies on Tuesday showed destroyed or damaged rooftops, boats missing from jetties and areas of dense greenery turned brown as trees were damaged or destroyed.
France used ships and military aircraft to rush rescuers and supplies to the area on Monday. “Mayotte is totally devastated,” French interior minister Bruno Retailleau said, with the ministry estimating 70% of the population was gravely affected.
As of Monday evening, the ministry confirmed 21 deaths at hospitals, with 45 people in critical condition. But French health minister Geneviève Darrieussecq warned that any estimates were likely major undercounts “compared to the scale of the disaster.”
Electricity was down across the archipelago, with only the capital spared. Telecommunications were severely disrupted, with most antennas knocked out of service. Authorities were concerned about a shortage of drinking water.
The French Red Cross described the devastation as “unimaginable” and said rescuers were still searching for bodies. The damage, including to Mayotte’s sole airport, has left some areas inaccessible to emergency teams.
“Nobody believed it would be that big,” Mayotte resident Fahar Abdoulhamidi told the Associated Press by phone. “Those who live in bangas stayed in despite the cyclone, fearing their homes would be looted,” he said, referring to the island’s informal settlements.
Even worse, many migrants avoided shelters out of fear of deportation, Abdoulhamidi said.
Mayotte is a densely populated archipelago between Madagascar and the African continent of more than 320,000 people, according to the French government. Most residents are Muslim and French authorities have estimated another 100,000 migrants live there from as far away as Somalia.
“There’s no water, no electricity. Hunger is starting to rise. It’s urgent that aid arrives, especially when you see children, babies, to whom we have nothing concrete to offer,” Mayotte senator Salama Ramia told BFM-TV.
Chido was a category 4 cyclone, the second-strongest on the scale, and the worst to hit Mayotte since the 1930s, François-Xavier Bieuville, the top French government official in the island group, told Mayotte la 1ère.
Bieuville also told the broadcaster that he expected the final death toll to reach “close to a thousand or even several thousand”.
Rescue teams and supplies have been sent from France and Réunion. Daily airlifts were delivering 20 tons of water and food to address urgent needs, Retailleau said.
With the Associated Press