“It’s chaos”: the aftermath of Hurricane Chido in Mayotte | Climate news

Days after Cyclone Chido struck the French Indian Ocean province of Mayotte, residents are still struggling for water and food, while rescuers race to find the missing.

The hurricane destroyed entire neighborhoods and killed at least 31 people, according to the French Ministry of the Interior.

Among the damaged and destroyed homes in Mamoudzou, the capital of Mayotte, people lined up with jugs to get water or waited to charge their phones.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived on the island of Mayotte on Thursday morning to assess the damage caused by the hurricane.

His visit to the French overseas territory comes after Paris announced “exceptional natural disaster measures” for the island of Mayotte late on Wednesday night to enable “more rapid and effective management of the crisis.”

Officials have warned that the death toll from the most devastating hurricane in living memory could reach into the hundreds, perhaps thousands, as rescuers race to clear rubble and comb flattened shanty towns for survivors.

Prime Minister François Bayrou said: “The Mayotte tragedy is probably the worst natural disaster in the last few centuries of French history.”

Located near Madagascar off the coast of southeast Africa, Mayotte is the poorest region in France. An estimated third of Mayotte’s population lives in shanty towns, whose flimsy houses with metal roofs offer little protection from the storm.

Hurricane Chido – which struck the island of Mayotte on Saturday – was the latest in a series of storms around the world caused by climate change, according to meteorologists.

Experts say monsoon storms are being intensified by warmer Indian Ocean waters, leading to faster and more destructive winds.

At Mayotte Central Hospital in Mamoudzou, windows were shattered and door hinges torn off, but most doctors resorted to sleeping in their destroyed workplace on Wednesday after Chido swept away their homes.

“It’s chaos,” said medical and administrative assistant Anrifia Ali Hammadi. “The roof is collapsing. We are not very safe. Even I don’t feel safe here.”