'We feel completely abandoned': Mayotte residents call for help after devastating cyclone

BBC

December 16, 2024 at 10:31 a.m.·1 min read

People on the island of Mayotte are calling for aid after Cyclone Chido, with wind speeds of 140mph (225kmh), devastated the French Indian Ocean territory
"There's nothing here on the ground - no resources at all... we feel completely abandoned," a 27-year-old midwife at Mayotte's central hospital says
Several hundred people are already feared dead - Mayotte's prefect warns the final toll could reach "close to a thousand or even several thousand"
Cyclone Chido is believed to be the worst to hit the island in 90 years - with waves up to eight metres high, BBC Weather's Sarah Keith-Lucas writes
Mayotte is one of the poorest parts of France - with many of the 300,000 population living in shanty towns
What is a cyclone? Read our mini-explainer here

'We feel completely abandoned': Mayotte residents call for help after devastating cyclone

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