5 days Ago By Hannah Broughton
Cyclone Chido hit the small French island nation of Mayotte on Saturday, 500 miles off the East Coast of Africa . The archipelago has a population of around 300,000 spread over two main islands. France has already sent help by ship and military aircraft to those affected by Cyclone Chido .
The French overseas territory is known to be poor and has struggled with gang violence, droughts, and underinvestment for decades. Cyclone Chido is said to be the worst storm to hit the area in almost a century, and while authorities have feared there are hundreds dead, they now believe that number could go into the thousands. The official death toll on Monday morning stood at 14, but it’s expected to rise significantly.
NASA breakthrough as super telescope discovers incredible new planet Syria rocked by enormous bomb that registers on Richter Scale Rescue teams medical personnel and supplies have been sent to the island off the east coast of Africa from France and the nearby French territory of Reunion. Following the deadly storm, French television station TF1 reported Monday morning that Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau had arrived in Mamoudzou, the capital of Mayotte. He said, "It will take days and days to establish the human toll.
" French authorities confirmed more than 800 more personnel were expected to arrive to help in the coming days, while rescuers comb through the wreckage caused by Chido. Top French government official and Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville also told local TV station Mayotte la 1ere that the death toll so far was several hundred people but it could be in the thousands. He said slums of metal shacks and other informal structures were badly damaged and authorities were struggling to get an accurate count of the dead and injured.
The small nation's public infrastructure has taken a huge battering, and entire neighbourhoods have been flattened, according to French authorities. Currently, only military aircraft can fly into Mayotte due to the damage to the airport control tower. The mammoth cyclone brought winds of over 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service, and hit the islands as a category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale.
It went on to hit Mozambique on the African mainland late Sunday, where authorities have said more than 2 million people may be impacted. Mozambique is another poor country and health facilities there are already limited. Malawi and Zimbabwe are also said to be preparing for possible evacuations because of flooding as Chido continues its journey across East Africa, although the cyclone is not as strong as it was on Saturday.
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