As we land over Petite-Terre, Mayotte’s smaller island, the extent of Cyclone Chido’s devastation is immediately apparent.
It is difficult to exaggerate how completely devastated the landscape is in this French Indian Ocean region after the storm tore through the islands on Saturday.
Rolling hills that were previously covered with coconut palms now look barren and black. The leaves of trees have been blown off and their trunks are lying horizontally.
The airport’s signal tower was mangled by the 220 km wind.
Even the nearest airport hotel – a solid structure and one of the few places with working Wi-Fi and electricity on the island – has a badly damaged roof and broken windows.
French officials say at least 31 people have been killed, but thousands are still missing and there are fears the death toll could rise dramatically.
A state of exceptional natural disaster has been declared for the area, which is one of the poorest parts of France, with many residents living in slums.
Similar scenes of destruction on Mayotte’s other main island, Grande-Terre, greeted French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday morning as he arrived with four tons of food and healthcare.
French President Emmanuel Macron meets locals in Mayotte [Getty Images]
But as he surveyed the damage, some say the extent of the destruction here is a direct result of his underinvestment in the island.
With his government currently in disarray and a fierce debate surrounding migration raging in France, Mayotte finds himself at the center of both a political and physical storm.
The thousands of illegal migrants on the island have long been a mystery to the French government, and now some in France argue that providing too much aid to the area would encourage more migrants to come.
Meanwhile, residents of France’s poorest department are still waiting for food, water and shelter.
As we landed a great downpour came in, filling the buildings whose roofs had been blown away with water.
It’s just one example of some of the difficulties Mayotte residents have been living with for almost a week.
Part of the roof of an airport hotel in Mayotte damaged by Cyclone Chido [BBC]
The state of emergency declared for Mayotte is intended for the French overseas territories, so that administrative barriers can be overcome and the crisis can be tackled more quickly and effectively.
It is activated for one month, but can be extended for a period of two months if necessary.
“Faced with this exceptional situation, exceptional resources must be mobilized to quickly restore vital services and implement a sustainable reconstruction plan for Mayotte,” said the Minister responsible for Overseas Territories, François-Noël Buffet.
Emergency services have delivered food and water and cleared roads as they also race to find the missing.
Health workers are concerned that infectious diseases could spread as residents have reported shortages of clean drinking water and stores are rationing supplies.
Authorities have said their priority is to get damaged water installations operational again.
Half of the territory is still without power. A newly imposed curfew requires people to stay in their homes for six hours at night to prevent looting.
Chido – the worst storm to hit the archipelago in 90 years – brought winds of more than 225 km/h (140 mph) on Saturday, flattening areas where people live in huts with sheet metal roofs and leaving fields full of dirt and debris.
After Mayotte, the storm hit the African mainland, killing at least 45 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi.
[BBC]
