At least several hundred people are feared dead after the most powerful cyclone in nearly a century struck a small French archipelago with 200kph (124mph) winds, a senior local official said on Sunday.
The death toll on the islands of Mayotte may reach a “thousand, even several thousands”, prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told local news channel Mayotte La 1ere, in what forecaster Meteo-France says is the strongest storm to hit the archipelago in more than 90 years.
Cyclone Chido struck Mayotte overnight and damaged a hospital, housing and government buildings, but the French interior ministry has warned it will be “difficult to account for all the victims”, adding that they could not yet determine a death toll.
French president Emmanuel Macron said: “My thoughts are with our compatriots in Mayotte, who have gone through the most horrific few hours, and who have, for some, lost everything, lost their lives.”
Mayotte has become a focal point for illegal immigration from the nearby Comoros islands, with more than 100,000 undocumented migrants in the French archipelago, the French interior ministry says.
Ascertaining a precise death toll is difficult, a French official said, because Mayotte is a “Muslim land where the dead are buried within 24 hours”. There are also concerns about access to food, water and sanitation in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
Nearly 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) from Paris and four days away by sea, Mayotte is significantly poorer than the rest of France and has been gripped by gang violence and social unrest for decades.
More than three quarters of the roughly 320,000 residents live under the poverty line, and earlier this year tensions ran high following a water shortage.
An air bridge is currently being put in place from Reunion island – another French overseas territory on the other side of Madagascar – as new French prime minister Francois Bayrou is faced with his first challenge days after being named by Mr Macron.
Northern Mozambique was also struck by the deadly cyclone but it is unclear what the extent of the impact on the territory was. Internet monitor NetBlocks said power and telecommunications infrastructure had been damaged by heavy rain and winds. In Comoros, two people were injured, 24 displaced and 24 homes destroyed, according to authorities.
Mayotte was colonised by the French in 1843, and the entire archipelago, including Comoros, was annexed in 1904. A referendum in 1974 saw 63 per cent of Mayotte vote to stay French, while 95 per cent of the archipelago supported separation. Grand Comore, Anjouan and Moheli declared independence in 1975.