SAINT REUNION: Rescuers raced against time on Monday to reach survivors and supply urgent aid after a devastating cyclone ripped through the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, destroying homes across the islands, with hundreds feared dead.

Images from Mayotte, which like other French overseas territories is an integral part of France and ruled from Paris, showed scenes of devastation, with homes reduced to piles of rubble.

The crisis, which erupted at the weekend the day after President Emmanuel Macron appointed Francois Bayrou as the sixth prime minister of his mandate, poses a major challenge for a government still only operating in a caretaker capacity.

The cyclone left health services in tatters, with the main hospital extremely damaged and health centres knocked out of operation, Health Minister Genevieve Darrieussecq told broadcaster France 2.

“The hospital has suffered major water damage and destruction, notably in the surgical, intensive care, maternity and emergency units,” she said, adding that “medical centres were also non-operational”.

Paris-appointed official says death toll could come close to ‘thousand or several thousand’

Macron was due to chair a crisis meeting in Paris at 1700 GMT, the Elysee said. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, whose super ministry is responsible for Mayotte, arrived on the island to oversee rescue efforts.

“In reality for the toll we are going to need days, days,” he told officials after arriving, warning against giving any figures at this stage.

Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville, the top Paris-appointed official on the territory, when asked about the eventual death toll told broadcaster Mayotte la Premiere “I think there will definitely be several hundred, perhaps we will come close to a thousand or even several thousand”.

Chido is the latest in a string of storms worldwide fuelled by climate change, according to experts. The “exceptional” cyclone was super-charged by particularly warm Indian Ocean waters, meteorologist Francois Gourand of the Meteo France weather service said.

Cyclone Chido caused major damage to Mayotte’s airport and cut off electricity, water and communication links when it barrelled down on Saturday. Trees have been uprooted and power lines knocked down, while supplying fresh drinking water, a problem on Mayotte even in normal times, is now a major priority.

‘Shanty towns flattened’

With roads closed, officials fear that many could still be trapped under rubble in inaccessible areas.

The overwhelming majority of Mayotte’s population is Muslim and religious tradition dictates bodies must be buried rapidly, meaning some may never be counted.

Mayotte is France’s poorest region with an estimated third of the population living in shanty towns whose flimsy sheet metal-roofed homes offered scant protection against the storm.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2024