French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the French territory of Mayotte on Thursday to assess the damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Chido, the most powerful storm to hit the area in nearly a century, Bloomberg reports.
The cyclone has left a trail of widespread destruction, and local officials fear the death toll could reach as high as 1,000.
Emergency rescue and recovery efforts are underway, with hundreds of soldiers and firefighters deployed to Mayotte to assist survivors. The French government declared a state of “exceptional natural disaster” on Wednesday to expedite the restoration of essential services, and is sending substantial aid, including medical supplies, food, and water.
Mayotte, France’s poorest territory, is heavily reliant on aid from Paris. The storm’s impact has been particularly severe on the approximately one-third of the island’s 320,000 residents who live in vulnerable shantytowns with flimsy sheet-metal roofs easily damaged by high winds.
Cyclone Chido formed in the Indian Ocean between December 7 and 8. It initially impacted Agalega, a dependency located 1,000 kilometers north of Mauritius on December 11, before intensifying and making landfall in Mayotte and subsequently Mozambique on Sunday.
President Macron cancelled his scheduled attendance at a European Union summit in Brussels to visit Mayotte and oversee the response to the disaster.
