Mayotte cyclone: 140mph cyclone destroys shanty towns | World | News

Close to 1,000 people may have been killed after the worst cyclone in almost a century ripped through the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, according to the island’s top official.

Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told local TV: “I think there are some several hundred dead, maybe we’ll get close to a thousand, even thousands… given the violence of this event.”

Bieuville said it was extremely difficult to get an exact number of deaths and injuries after Mayotte was pummeled by the intense tropical cyclone on Saturday, causing major damage to public infrastructure, including the airport, flattening neighbourhoods, ripping the roof’s off houses and knocking out electricity supplies.

At least a third of the territory’s 320,000 residents live in shanty towns, where homes with sheet-metal roofs were flattened by the storm.

The French Interior Ministry confirmed at least 11 deaths and more than 250 injuries earlier Sunday but said that was expected to increase.

Mayotte in the southwestern Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa is France’s poorest island and the poorest territory in the European Union. It has a population of just over 300,000 spread over two main islands.

Bieuville said the worst devastation had been seen in the slums of metal shacks and informal structures that mark much of Mayotte. Referring to the official death toll so far, he said ″this figure is not plausible when you see the images of the slums.”

“I think the human toll is much higher,” he added.

Mayotte was directly in the cyclone’s path, though, and took the brunt. Chido brought winds in excess of 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service, making it a category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale.

Later, Chido made landfall in Mozambique on the African mainland and there were fears for more than 2 million people in the country’s north who could be impacted, according to authorities there.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his “thoughts” were with the Mayotte people and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau was due to travel to Mayotte today, Monday December 16.

Frefighters were sent from France and the nearby French territory of Reunion and supplies were also rushed in on military aircraft and ships. Damage to the airport’s control tower meant only military aircraft were able to fly in.

Patrice Latron, the prefect of Reunion, said authorities aim to establish an air and sea bridge from Reunion to Mayotte. About 800 more rescuers were to be sent in the coming days and more than 80 tons of supplies had been flown in or were on their way by ship. Some of the priorities were restoring electricity and access to drinking water, Latron said.

The French Interior Ministry said 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers have been deployed to “help the population and prevent potential looting.”

Chad Youyou, a resident in Hamjago in the north of the island, posted videos on Facebook showing the extensive damage in his village and across the surrounding fields and hills, where almost every tree had been leveled.

“Mayotte is destroyed … we are destroyed,” he said.