This photo provided by the French Army on Sunday, December 15, 2024 shows soldiers clearing fallen trees in the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte after Cyclone Chido caused extensive damage and reported several deaths.

AP/Budget Major of the Arm’es

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AP/Budget Major of the Arm’es

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — At least 11 people have died after Cyclone Chido caused devastating damage in the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, the French Interior Ministry said Sunday.

The severe tropical cyclone has now reached the east coast of Africa, where aid organizations are warning of further deaths and severe damage in northern Mozambique.

The French Interior Ministry said it was difficult to establish an exact number of dead and injured in Mayotte amid fears the death toll would rise. A hospital in Mayotte reported that nine people there were in critical condition and 246 others were injured.

The tropical cyclone blew through the southeastern Indian Ocean and also affected the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar. Mayotte was directly in the cyclone’s path and suffered significant damage on Saturday, officials said. The prefect of Mayotte said it was the worst cyclone to hit Mayotte in 90 years.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Saturday evening after an emergency meeting in Paris that there were fears that the death toll in Mayotte “will be high” and that the island was largely devastated.

Prime Minister François Bayrou, who took office on Friday, said public infrastructure in Mayotte had been badly damaged or destroyed, including the main hospital and the airport. He said many people living in precarious huts in slum areas were at very high risk.

According to the French weather service, Chido brought winds of more than 220 km/h (136 miles per hour), making it a Category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale.

Mayotte has a population of just over 300,000 spread across two main islands about 800 kilometers (500 miles) off the east coast of Africa. It is the poorest island in France and the poorest territory in the European Union. In some parts, entire neighborhoods were leveled, while residents reported that many trees were uprooted and boats were overturned or sunk.

According to the French Interior Ministry, 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers are on duty to “help the population and prevent possible looting.”

About 110 rescuers and firefighters from France and the nearby Réunion area were dispatched to Mayotte, and an additional reinforcement of 140 people was expected to be sent on Sunday. Supplies were delivered using military aircraft and ships.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was closely monitoring the situation as Pope Francis prayed for the cyclone’s victims during a visit on Sunday to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.

Chido continued its flight east and landed early Sunday in Mozambique on the African mainland, where emergency officials had warned that 2.5 million people could be affected in two northern provinces, Cabo Delgado and Nampula. The landlocked countries of Malawi and Zimbabwe are also bracing to be affected, as both countries warn they may have to evacuate people from low-lying areas due to the floods.

In Mozambique, the province of Cabo Delgado, where around two million people live, was badly hit, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

“Many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed and we are working closely with the government to ensure the continuity of essential services,” UNICEF said. “While we are doing everything we can, additional support is urgently needed.”

UNICEF Mozambique spokesman Guy Taylor said in a video posted by the group from the regional capital of Cabo Delgados that in addition to the immediate impacts of the cyclone, communities now face being cut off from schools and health facilities for weeks.

December to March is cyclone season in the southeastern Indian Ocean, and southern Africa has been hit by a number of strong cyclones in recent years. Cyclone Idai killed more than 1,300 people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in 2019. Cyclone Freddy claimed more than 1,000 lives in several countries last year.

The cyclones pose the risk of floods and landslides, but standing pools of water can later lead to deadly outbreaks of the water-borne disease cholera, as well as dengue fever and malaria.

Studies say hurricanes are getting worse because of climate change. They can leave poor countries in southern Africa, which contribute only a small share of global warming, struggling with major humanitarian crises, underscoring their calls for more help from rich nations to deal with the effects of climate change.