By GERALD IMRAY and THOMAS ADAMSON
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — France used ships and military aircraft to rush rescue workers and supplies to its Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on Monday after the island group was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. Authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died.
Cyclone Chido leveled entire neighborhoods of metal shacks and other flimsy structures when it hit Mayotte, France’s poorest department, on Saturday. Entire hillside villages were reduced to a jumble of snapped trees and piles of corrugated metal and wooden frames of houses.
Authorities used military-style vehicles to clear trees from roads so rescuers and supplies could reach those in need. The damage — including to the main airport — has left some areas still inaccessible to emergency teams, hampering authorities’ ability to assess the devastation and get basic necessities to survivors.
French Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq said the official death toll stood at 14 but told France 2 television that was likely a major undercount “compared to the scale of the disaster.”
Electricity supplies and communication lines have been knocked out to large parts of Mayotte, and authorities are concerned about a shortage of drinking water. Meanwhile, the main hospital suffered extensive damage.
People were also starting to go hungry, according to Mayotte Sen. Salama Ramia. She told BFM-TV that many people heading to shelters found dire conditions.
“There’s no water, no electricity. Hunger is starting to rise. It’s urgent that aid arrives, especially when you see children, babies, to whom we have nothing concrete to offer,” she said.
Mayotte, the poorest place in the European Union, is a densely populated archipelago of around 300,000 people, most of whom are Muslim, that sits between Madagascar and the African continent. Comprising two main islands, it has been under French administration since 1841.
Many of its makeshift houses and roads were pummeled by Chido, which brought winds in excess of 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service. It was a category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale, and the worst to hit Mayotte since the 1930s, Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville said.
Bieuville, the top French government official in the island group, told TV station Mayotte la 1ere on Sunday that the death toll from the cyclone was several hundred people and could even be in the thousands.
But he added it would be extremely hard to count the deaths and many might never be recorded, partly due to the Muslim tradition of burying people within 24 hours. Mayotte is also a destination for people from even poorer countries, like nearby Comoros and Somalia, who may have entered illegally and thus will be hard to track down.
Rescue teams and supplies have been sent from France and from the nearby French territory of Reunion, which is being used as a bridge to get help to Mayotte. However, Mayotte’s main airport remains closed to civilian flights due to extensive damage, leaving only military aircraft able to fly in and out.
Having pummeled Mayotte, the cyclone continued west and made landfall in Mozambique on Sunday. Local media in Mozambique reported three people died in the country’s north, but that was also a very early count. Aid agencies have warned that more than 2 million people could be affected in the country.
Meanwhile, Comoros President Azali Assoumani said in a statement that the damage to his nation was minor.
In Mayotte, the main hospital suffered extensive water damage to the surgery, intensive care, emergency and maternity departments, according to Darrieussecq, the health minister. Authorities said efforts are underway to establish a field clinic and deploy 100 additional medical personnel to the territory.
French authorities said more than 800 more personnel were expected to arrive in the coming days. The French government said it will use satellite data to assess the damage, prioritize aid and guide rescue teams.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau arrived Monday in Mamoudzou, the capital of Mayotte, according to TF1 television. French President Emmanuel Macron was set to host a meeting on the situation at the Interior Ministry’s crisis center in Paris later Monday, his office said.
Mayotte’s people have previously expressed discontent that their archipelago suffers from underinvestment and neglect by the French government.
Around three-quarters of the population lives in poverty, with a median annual disposable income roughly one-eighth that of the Paris metropolitan area, according to the French statistics agency INSEE. The territory has also faced political unrest and rising support for the far-right National Rally party, reflecting deep dissatisfaction with the political status quo.
Last year, the French army moved to quell protests on the islands after a drought and mismanagement led to water shortages.
The French Interior Ministry said 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers were deployed soon after the cyclone struck to “help the population and prevent potential looting.”
December through to March is cyclone season in the southwestern Indian Ocean, and southern Africa has been hammered by a series of strong ones in recent years. Cyclone Idai in 2019 killed more than 1,300 people, mostly in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Cyclone Freddy left more than 1,000 dead across several countries in the Indian Ocean and southern Africa last year.
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Adamson reported from Paris. Associated Press writer Tom Nouvian contributed from Paris and Monika Pronczuk contributed from Dakar, Senegal.
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