Tropical Cyclone Chido was set to make landfall in Mozambique on Sunday after causing destruction and killing several people in Mayotte, a French archipelago of about 300,000 people.
The tropical cyclone had sustained wind speeds of 132 miles per hour as it moved through the Indian Ocean toward East Africa’s coastline on Sunday morning, according to the U.S. military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center. That would make the storm a Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean.
On Saturday, Chido passed north of Madagascar and hit Mayotte, a French island territory about 500 miles east of Mozambique. French officials said that the storm killed several people and caused extensive damage to an airport and other infrastructure.
Bruno Retailleau, France’s interior minister, told reporters that a provisional tally showed at least a few people had been killed, The Associated Press reported. He said he could not yet provide a precise death toll.
“The island seems devastated,” Mr. Retailleau said.
President Emmanuel Macron of France said on social media that the French government was helping with relief efforts on Mayotte.
Mayotte has two main islands and a total land area of about 145 square miles. Its population density is the highest of France’s overseas territories.
Mayotte was still under a red cyclone alert on Sunday morning, but France’s official weather service said that skies were clearing as the storm moved away.
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