Disaster on Mayotte: Hundreds of deaths after a devastating cyclone!

Disaster on Mayotte: Hundreds of deaths after a devastating cyclone!

A devastating storm shaken the French island of Mayotte and could have demanded hundreds, if not thousands of human life! The mighty cyclone Chido, which swept across the island at over 200 km/h, not only devastated buildings and infrastructure, but also broke the hearts of the residents.

"I'm afraid here, we are talking about several hundred, perhaps even of thousands of victims," warned the prefect of Mayotte, Francois Xavier Bieuville, in a dramatic interview with the local broadcaster Mayotte La 1ere. The exact number of dead remains uncertain because the French authorities have already announced that it will be difficult to grasp all victims.

The destruction is unimaginable

The pictures from the capital Mamoudzou are shocking. "It is as if you woke up after a nuclear war. I saw how an entire quarter disappeared," said the desperate resident Mohamed Ishmael to the Reuters news agency. The destruction is comprehensive: residential buildings, government buildings and even a hospital were badly damaged.

The situation on Mayotte, a remote part of France, which is almost 8,000 km from Paris, is already tense in front of the cyclone. Over 100,000 illegal migrants live here, and more than three quarters of the population live below the poverty line. A water bottleneck at the beginning of the year also fueled the tensions.

help from the air

The French government reacted immediately and set up an air bridge from the island of Réunion to provide help. This is the first major challenge for Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who was only appointed President Emmanuel Macron a few days ago.

The cyclone also hit the neighboring island of Komoren, where two people were slightly injured and 21 houses were destroyed. The full scope of the destruction in Mozambique is still unclear because the storm also raged there.

The story of Mayotte is characterized by colonialism and social tensions. France annexed the island in 1904, and despite a referendum from 1974, in which 95 percent voted for independence, the residents of Mayotte decided to stay French. The island is still ruled from Paris.

The coming days will be crucial to understand the proportions of this tragedy and to mobilize the urgently needed help. People on Mayotte face an uncertain future while the world looks at the developments.