A photo taken on December 15, 2024 shows residents sittingamong piles of debris of metal sheets and wood after homes were destroyed by the cyclone Chido that hit France's Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte.
Image: Kwezi / AFP
Rescue services search for survivors after the most powerful cyclone in nearly a century devastated the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte.
Parts of the islands, which were struck by Cyclone Chido over the weekend with winds of more than 200km/h. remain inaccessible to rescue workers, Reuters reports.
Rescue services search for survivors after the most powerful cyclone in nearly a century devastated the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte.
Image: Graphic News
Image: Graphic News
The storm was the strongest to strike Mayotte in more than 90 years, French weather service Météo France said.
It has a population of about 321,000 and is made up of two main islands over an area about twice the size of Washington DC.
A comparative satellite image of the damage wrought by Cyclone Chido, the most powerful cyclone to hit Mayotte in nearly a century.
Image: AFP
A comparative satellite image of the damage wrought by Cyclone Chido, the most powerful cyclone to hit Mayotte in nearly a century. Image: AFP
Rapid intensification of cyclones is also more likely with higher sea temperatures and so the fact that this storm strengthened so quickly may have been partly due to climate change, BBC reports.
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