Several hundred feared dead after Cyclone Chido | Global News Avenue

Hundreds of people are feared dead on the island of Mayotte after the French Indian Ocean territory was devastated by a powerful cyclone.

Rescue workers, including reinforcements from France, were searching for survivors in the rubble.

When Cyclone Chido brought winds of more than 225 km/h (140 mph), entire settlements were flattened, with the poorest people living in makeshift shelters particularly hard hit.

Widespread damage to infrastructure, including downed power lines and impassable roads, severely hampered emergency operations.

Some of Mayotte’s 320,000 people say they are facing severe shortages of food, water and shelter.

A resident in the capital Mamuzu who was queuing to receive supplies said: “We haven’t had water for three days, so the amount of water is starting to increase.

“We are trying to live on the bare minimum because we don’t know when the water will come back.”

Another Mamuzu resident, John Balloz, said he was surprised he didn’t die when the hurricane hit.

“It was the wind, the wind was blowing, and I was panicking and I was screaming, ‘We need help, we need help.’ I was screaming because I could see the end was coming,” he said.

Mohamed Ishmael also lives in the capital, He told Reuters the situation there was “a tragedy” and said: “You feel like you’re in the aftermath of a nuclear war… I saw entire communities disappear.”

Another said they had used a nearby school as a shelter, adding: “We can still seek refuge with our neighbours, we are still united and cautious. We need everyone to hold hands.”

Mayotte’s poor communities, including undocumented migrants seeking asylum on the French territory, are believed to be particularly hard hit due to the fragility of their housing

Its population relies heavily on French financial aid and has long struggled with poverty, unemployment and political instability.

About 75% of the population lives below the national poverty line, and unemployment hovers around one-third.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his thoughts were with “our compatriots in Mayotte who have lived through the most horrific hours and, for some, lost everything and their lives.”

While some French aid and rescue workers have arrived in Mayotte, efforts to reach some communities are still ongoing.

The island’s governor, François Xavier Bierville, told local media that the death toll could rise significantly once the damage was fully assessed. He warned that the number would “certainly be in the hundreds” and possibly thousands.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who plans to visit the island to assess damage and coordinate further relief efforts, acknowledged the hurricane was “extraordinarily severe” and assured that efforts to assist people were being stepped up.

Cyclone Chido also made landfall in Mozambique, bringing flash flooding, uprooted trees and damaged buildings about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the northern city of Pemba.

The hurricane caused structural damage and power outages in the northern coastal provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado on Saturday morning, authorities reported.

“We were hit very hard in the early hours of this morning,” said Guy Taylor, spokesman for UNICEF’s aid agency in Mozambique.

“Many houses were destroyed or severely damaged, and medical facilities and schools are inoperable,” he added.

Mr Taylor said UNICEF was concerned about “the loss of access to critical services”, including health care, clean water and sanitation, and “the spread of diseases such as cholera and malaria”.