Intense Tropical Cyclone Chido, which developed in the southwest Indian Ocean, left a trail of destruction in the French island territory Mayotte and nearby countries in southeast Africa like Mozambique, possibly leaving thousands dead and many more without homes and livelihood.
“Cyclone Chido underwent rapid intensification before landfall in Mauritius, weakened slightly, and then regained its Category 4-equivalent intensity before reaching Mayotte and continuing to Mozambique,” Alex Baker, a meteorologist at the University of Reading in the U.K., said in a statement.
Local authorities in Mayotte said that while they are uncertain about the full extent of the disaster, the death toll could reach several hundreds or even thousands.
Hospital reports recorded at least 22 people dead and more than a thousand injured but many parts of the island are still inaccessible. Reuters reported that some casualties were also buried before their deaths could be counted.
A curfew has been imposed by the French government to stabilize the situation in Mayotte as planes are sent daily with up to 50 tons of food, water and medicine, the Associated Press reported.
Aid group Médecins du Monde (MDM) said in the report that cholera is already circulating on the island. “It might turn into an epidemic if there is no way to ensure efficient access to water,” MDM director Jean-François Corty was quoted as saying.
In Mozambique, at least 34 people have died, recent reports said. In Mayotte’s neighboring archipelago Comoros, a week of national mourning was declared as authorities anticipate deaths reaching several hundreds, Le Monde reported.
An update released Dec. 17 by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs suggests that Cyclone Chido has affected “more than 174,000 people in Mozambique, 34,000 Malawi and 64,000 in the Comoros”
French weather service Météo-France said Chido is the strongest cyclone experienced by Mayotte in more than 90 years.
Baker from the University of Reading attributed much of the massive devastation from the cyclone to a “lack of resilience and low-income communities” in the region.
While there were no reported casualties in Mauritius, a Bloomberg report quoted government officials saying that a large majority of buildings were damaged.
Whether climate change fueled Chido is yet to be determined, but Helen Hooker, another meteorologist from the University of Reading, said that “Indian Ocean temperatures have been incredibly high this year, contributing to the strengthening of tropical Cyclone Chido into a Category 4 storm with wind speeds of more than 225 kmh (140 mph).”
Meteorologist and professor Liz Stephens from the same university added that “the intensity of tropical cyclones in the southwest Indian Ocean has been increasing, this is consistent with what scientists expect in a changing climate.”
She said that Chido showed how vulnerable small islands were to climate change.
Banner image of Tropical Cyclone Chido over the Indian Ocean by NASA via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).
