Cyclone Chido, the most powerful storm to hit the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte in nearly a century, has left devastating destruction, with officials fearing that thousands may have perished.
"I believe hundreds, possibly a thousand or even thousands of people may have died," François-Xavier Bieuville, the head of the Mayotte archipelago, told local media on December 15. He added that it remains extremely difficult to assess the full scale of casualties caused by Cyclone Chido.
The storm made landfall on the night of December 14 with winds exceeding 200 km/h (124 mph), tearing through homes, government buildings, and a hospital.