Mayot after the Century Cyclone of the Century: Destruction as after atomic bomb

Mayot after the Century Cyclone of the Century: Destruction as after atomic bomb

reports on far-reaching damage reach us from Mayotte after a 100-year-old cyclone has been swept across the French archipelago on Saturday. A resident compared the devastation with an atomic explosion, and there are hundreds of, possibly even thousands of missing people.

catastrophic location in Mayotte

"The situation is catastrophic, apocalyptic," Bruno Garcia, owner of the Hotel Caribou in Mamoudzou, the capital of Mayotte, told BFMTV. "We have lost everything. The entire hotel is completely destroyed. It is as if an atomic bomb would have fallen on Mayotte."

A devastating cyclone meets Mayotte

Mayotte is located in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, west of Madagascar. The Chido cyclone, a storm of category 4, swept across the southwestern Indian ocean and first hit Nordmadagascar before he intensified and carried out with wind speeds of over 220 kilometers per hour, according to the French Wetteramt Meteo-France. It was the strongest storm that has hit the islands for over 90 years.

cyclone chido and its consequences

chido continued his way into the northern Mozambique, where he continued to cause damage, even if the storm has now been weakened. The cyclone is the worst that has hit the area with just over 300,000 inhabitants in the past 90 years. He devastated district, paralyzed the power grids, damaged hospitals and schools and destroyed the airport control tower.

tragic human loss and destruction

At least 11 deaths were confirmed by the French Ministry of the Interior, but the actual number of victims will probably be much higher. Local officials estimate that the number could go into the hundreds or even thousands. "I think there are several hundred dead, maybe we will even approach the 1000 mark ... in view of the violence of this event," said the prefect of Mayotte, François-Xavier Bieuville, compared to the TV broadcaster Mayotte La 1ère.

blocked aid measures and communication failures

debris of the storm have blocked access routes across the entire archipelago, which makes it difficult to deliver aid goods and hinder the search for survivors. At the moment, about two thirds of the island cannot be reached, said Estelle Yousuffa, MP for the first constituency of Mayotte. "We are not allowed to confuse the villages that are cut off from communication with the misery, where the chances of survival are very low. Everything is devastated," added Yousuffa.

The suffering people of Mayotte

support and rescue campaigns

hundreds of rescuers, firefighters and police officers were sent from France and the nearby French overseas area of Réunion. Due to the damage to the airport control tower, however, only military aircraft can land. Cyclones, also known as the typhoon and called hurkanes in North America, are huge heating machines of wind and rain that feed on warm ocean water and damp air. The cyclone season in the southwestern Indian ocean typically extends from mid -November to late April.

The influence of climate change on cyclones

Scientists emphasize that climate change tropical cyclones are more destructive, among other things due to the increase in sea level as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2019, two strong cyclones, Idai and Kenneth, Mozambique devastated over a period of two months and killed hundreds, while millions were dependent on humanitarian aid.

eyewitness reports from Mayotte

Chad Youyou, a resident of Hamjago in the north of Mayotte, shared videos on Facebook, which show destroyed trees and extensive damage in his village. "Mayotte is destroyed ... we are destroyed," he commented on the situation.