The French archipelago of Mayotte is placed on maximum alert on Saturday due to the arrival of the intense cyclone Chido, announced the representation of the State in this archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
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“ The eye of the cyclone will pass over the north of Mayotte between 9:00 a.m. (06:00 GMT) and 1:00 p.m. (10:00 GMT), causing a false calm », warns the prefecture of Mayottea territory of 320,000 inhabitants placed on purple alert since 7:00 a.m. local time (04:00 GMT).
Chido « is located 100 kilometers northeast of Mayotte », indicated at 06:09 local time (03:09 GMT) the Météo-France agency, specifying that the cyclone was continuing a “ west-southwest trajectory “. “ Over the next 36 hours, Chido is expected to maintain significant intensity (…) it should pass near Mayotte » during the day, adds the forecaster.
The cyclone, which is moving at 19 km/h, blows gusts of wind at sea measured at 230 km/h maximum, from the same source. Météo-France warns of “ destructive, even devastating winds, very intense rains and possible marine submersions » from the end of the night, predicting an improvement « from Saturday at the end of the day “. The French territory had already been placed on red alert at 7:00 p.m. GMT.
“ An unprecedented event, extremely violent »
The representative of the French State in Mayotte, Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville, spoke at a press conference “ an unprecedented event, of extreme violence ”, with winds that can “ exceed 180 km/h “. He called on people housed in precarious housing, very numerous in the poorest department in France, to confine themselves to one of the 71 accommodation centers opened by the authorities in schools and gymnasiums.
These severely degraded weather conditions lead to “a risk of runoff and flooding, and sea swells which can have significant effects on the coastline”, according to François-Xavier Bieuville, who urged sailors to “must reach dry land” . All traffic on public roads has been prohibited since 10:00 p.m. local time and Dzaoudzi international airport has been closed since 8:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT).
The French Ministry of the Interior announced on Thursday the sending to Mayotte of 110 civil security professionals from the island of Reunion. All schools in the archipelago, closed on Friday, will remain closed on Saturday. Mayotte, relatively untouched by cyclones, had already been affected by cyclone Belna in 2019, which however did not cause major damage.
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