After a strong storm destroyed the French colony in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of people are thought to have died in Mayotte.
Cyclone Chido’s wind speeds of around 225 km/h (140 mph) destroyed entire towns, with the poorest people living in improvised shelters being especially severely affected.
Rescue personnel are sifting through the rubble in an effort to find survivors, including French reinforcements.
Emergency activities are being significantly hampered by widespread infrastructure damage, including downed power lines and inaccessible roads.
There are 320,000 people living in Mayotte, and some of them have reported experiencing acute food, water, and shelter shortages.
While waiting in line for supplies, a citizen of Mamoudzou, stated:
“We’ve had no water for three days now, so it’s starting to be a lot.
“We’re trying to get the bare minimum to live on because we don’t know when the water will come back.”
John Balloz, another inhabitant of Mamoudzou, communicated and surprise that he survived the cyclone.
He also added
“It was the wind, the wind blowing, and I was panicked, I screamed, ‘We need help, we need help.’ I was screaming because I could see the end coming for me,”
Mohamed Ishmael, who also lives in the capital, informed the Reuters news agency about the situation if there was “a tragedy” and stated:
“You feel like you are in the aftermath of a nuclear war… I saw an entire neighborhood disappear.”
