France will do everything it can to rebuild the overseas territory of Mayotte, which was destroyed by Cyclone Chido, said French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to the group of islands in the Indian Ocean on Thursday.
Typhoon Chido hit Mayotte with winds of up to 220 kilometers per hour on Saturday, leaving a trail of destruction.
More than 2,000 people have been reported injured and 31 killed in the disaster, but authorities fear the death toll could be much higher.
The local administrator, François-Xavier Bieuville, estimates that there may be several hundred dead.
The French overseas territory of Mayotte is located in the Indian Ocean between the coast of the southeastern African country of Mozambique and the island nation of Madagascar.
About 310,000 people live in this archipelago, where the average age is 23.
Life in Mayotte is very different than in mainland France, which is more than 8,000 kilometers away. More than three-quarters of the population lives below the poverty line and people have less money than almost any other part of France, including the population of nearby La Réunion.
The economy of the archipelago, which was promoted by France in the mid-19th century, is underdeveloped, and many people are unemployed and live in temporary housing.
Cyclone Chido hit Mozambique on the African continent at the weekend, where the death toll rose to 45 on Wednesday, the Institute for National Disaster Management reported. More than 500 other people were injured, he said.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), at least 175,000 people have been affected by this typhoon, which has destroyed about 24,000 homes, as well as a number of schools and health centers.
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