Cyclone Chido hit the French overseas department* of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean on the night of Saturday 14 December. The number of victims could be hundreds and even thousands of people.
This was stated by François-Xavier Biéville, Prefect of Mayotte, tells Le Figaro. He says the official death toll from Cyclone Chido in Mayotte is now 14, but there are “certainly several hundred dead”. Bearing in mind that according to local tradition, the dead are buried within 24 hours, Beville noted:
“We may be approaching a thousand or even several thousand… We will not be able to count all the victims.”
Cyclone Chido swept over Mayotte, bringing winds of more than 220 kilometers per hour. This is the strongest storm to hit the French archipelago in 90 yearssay French weather forecasters.
The French Ministry of the Interior estimates that the disaster destroyed the housing of a third of Mayotte's population – about 100 thousand people. They are trying to resettle them in temporary accommodation centers.
Yesterday, Sunday 15 December, the first plane of the French emergency services arrived in Mayotte. It delivered emergency equipment and medical personnel.
*Overseas Department (French département d'outre-mer, abbreviated DOM) – department of France located outside the French metropolis. As of 2016, Guadeloupe, Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Reunion have this status. The overseas departments have the same political status as the metropolitan departments.
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