The French department in the Indian Ocean is densely populated and desperately poor – and now it’s been flattened by 200km/h winds. CGTN’s Ray Addison reports. #mayotte
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00:00Powerful winds and torrential rain.
00:06Cyclone Chido has flattened entire neighbourhoods on the islands of Mayotte,
00:11with local officials fearing hundreds may be dead.
00:14In the archipelago's capital, Mamutsu, debris from destroyed homes litters the streets,
00:20alongside uprooted trees, splintered wood and twisted metal.
00:25Aerial footage shared by the French army shows the scale of the devastation.
00:30France's poorest overseas region is home to around 320,000 people,
00:36with many living in informal settlements.
00:39And the fragile structures were unable to withstand the deluge of water
00:43and winds exceeding 200 kilometres per hour.
00:49It smashed right into us here, and to be honest, it was complicated.
00:53It was a complete disaster.
00:55Lots of houses and even towns are wiped out, especially the slums.
01:00Rescuers are racing to find survivors,
01:03but some areas remain inaccessible due to the destruction.
01:07France's Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is helping coordinate the response,
01:12while the foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrault,
01:15says the government will be working with the European Commission to support reconstruction efforts.
01:21All my thoughts this morning are with our compatriots in Mayotte
01:25who are suffering the tragic consequences of the disaster that has struck the island.
01:29Under the authority of the Prime Minister, the government and state services are fully mobilised
01:34to provide support, reinforcement and security to our fellow compatriots in Mayotte.
01:43Local authorities have described the situation as catastrophic,
01:47with power outages affecting thousands of people and key infrastructure,
01:51including schools, hospitals and government facilities, sustaining significant damage.
01:57With more than three quarters of the population in Mayotte living below the French poverty line,
02:02a key priority now will be ensuring survivors have access to food, water and sanitation.
02:09But it could take days, if not weeks, to understand the full extent of the devastation
02:14from its worst storm in nearly a century.
02:18Ray Addison, CGTN.