Chaos and fear on Mayotte after Cyclone Chido – French Red Cross
By the Climate Centre
The French Red Cross said in a press release yesterday that the four priorities of its response to the “chaos and fear” Cyclone Chido has unleashed on the Indian Ocean island territory of Mayotte are water, food, hygiene materials and shelter.
“We must act as quickly as possible on this island whose situation is extremely precarious,” said Florent Vallée, National Director of Emergencies and Operations.
Speaking of a race against time, coordinated with the French authorities, Vallée said 30 tonnes of material were being transported via air bridge from the Red Cross PIROI Indian Ocean logistics base in Réunion, including drinking water, jerrycans, buckets and soap, as well as medical and response personnel.
PIROI had deployed some experts to Mayotte last week, when the first orange alerts about the approaching storm were issued.
The Red Cross was now also mobilizing all the equipment and supplies stored at its logistics depot on Petite Terre, the smaller of the Mayotte islands.
‘Incredibly high Indian Ocean temperatures’
IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said Sunday on X/Twitter that it was feared the needs generated by Chido were “immense”.
“My thoughts are with everyone impacted by this disaster,” he said.
“We will not be able to count all the victims,” the Prefect of Mayotte, François-Xavier Bieuville, has told French television. “I think there will certainly be several hundred [who have died], perhaps we will approach a thousand, or even a few thousand.”
Cyclone Chido began to pose a threat in the middle of last week; it tracked just to the north of Madagadscar, whose land mass would have blunted its impact had it made landfall there first.
As it was, the storm gathered force over the sea, becoming the strongest to hit the tiny Mayotte islands for nearly a century; because of its position at the northern edge of the greatest cluster of Indian Ocean storm tracks, Mayotte has in effect dodged the worst cyclones for many years.
Climate experts at the University of Reading yesterday agreed that Indian Ocean temperatures – as Dr Helen Hooker put it – have been “incredibly high this year”, probably helping boost Chido into a Category 4 storm, with wind speeds at its peak of more than 225kmh.
‘Small islands must be supported to build resilience to cyclones’
Dr Hooker’s Reading colleague, Professor Liz Stephens, who is also Climate Centre science lead, said: “The intensity of tropical cyclones in the south-west Indian Ocean has been increasing, and this is consistent with what we expect in a changing climate: warmer oceans fuel more powerful storms.
“The tragic impacts of Cyclone Chido graphically demonstrate show how vulnerable small islands are to climate change. A single powerful storm can wipe out critical infrastructure like power, water supply, and communications across an entire island, making international support essential.
“Small islands must be supported to build resilience to tropical cyclones. It is not enough to just improve early warning system: we must improve the resilience of homes and infrastructure to ensure that people have somewhere to shelter and essential services are operational during and after the storm.”
The picture emerging early this week from the Mayotte capital, Mamoudzou, is one complete devastation in its areas of banga or marginal housing – dwellings made from corrugated iron, many of them precariously clinging to steep hillsides, the French Red Cross adds.
“Even permanent buildings suffered significant damage, including medical services and hospitals that were badly damaged or even unusable,” the National Society said. There was no water, electricity or internet.
“We know that it will take months and months to recover from this disaster,” Florent Vallée said. “And a second emergency, which will arrive very quickly, will be to provide psychological support to the population.”
Chido went on to make landfall Sunday in Mozambique, where the Red Cross had been able to distribute emergency supplies in advance to more than 2,000 families in harm’s way, as well as pre-positioning power-boats for search and rescue by its aquatic teams, IFRC Head of Delegation Naemi Heita reported.
(Translations from French in this news story are by the Climate Centre.)
A picture is emerging this week from the Mayotte capital, Mamoudzou, of complete devastation. (Photo: UIISC7/Ministère de l’Intérieur via social media)