A week after the devastating cyclone hit the archipelago, the people of Mahor still have difficulty accessing drinking water.
Under the power of the gusts, the trees lost all of their leaves. Houses, whether made of bricks or sheet metal, particularly in the shanty towns of the archipelago, were destroyed, leaving thousands of Mahorais in disarray. Saturday December 21, a week after the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido, most of them still lack water and food. “For months, Mayotte will not live in a normal situation”, recognized Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the island on Friday.
“The priority of priorities is the fight for drinking water, drinking water”underlined the Head of State in the face of the risk of dehydration which threatens the victims, who are working, as best they can, to rebuild their homes. “Already 80 tonnes of food and 50 tonnes of water have been distributed in nine municipalities”Friday, for his part affirmed the resigning Minister of the Interior on “Everything is in place to enable the distribution of 600 000 liters of water per day”or a little less than two liters per person, assured Bruno Retailleau. This is how the quest for drinking water, but also food, is organized on the devastated archipelago.
A Mahorais brandishes a sign “Mayotte is thirsty”, on December 19, 2024, during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the archipelago. Access to drinking water, already very difficult before the passage of Cyclone Chido, has become more complicated since the disaster. (LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL)
A civil protection team marauding, on December 20, 2024, in the Convalescence district, located in the heights of Mamoudzou (Mayotte), at the start of the Kawéni slum, the largest in Europe. (MICHAEL BUNEL / MAXPPP)
Mahorais move among the rubble and bare trees in Pamandzi, December 17, 2024. Pieces of sheet metal litter the sides of the road. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
A patient receives medical care at the central hospital of Mayotte, in Mamoudzou, on December 18, 2024. The hospital center suffered significant damage during the passage of the cyclone, greatly complicating the work of caregivers. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
Mahorais queue in front of the Mamoudzou hospital, the only one in the archipelago before the installation of a field hospital, waiting to receive treatment, December 18, 2024. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
A child looks at the courtyard of his school, in the village of Bouyouni (Mayotte), on December 19, 2024. But schools will not all be able to reopen at the start of the school year on January 13, warned Emmanuel Macron, raising the possibility of enrolling some students in establishments in neighboring Reunion Island. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
Mahoraise women climb a hill amid debris and fallen trees while carrying cans of water in the village of Bouyouni, December 19, 2024. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
Cans in hand, dozens of Mahorais elbowed each other in front of the gas station in the Kawéni district, the largest slum in France, on December 20, 2024. All have the hope of leaving with a little fuel, in particular to run generators, despite the authorities' ban on filling cans and jerrycans. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
Children play in the rubble in Pamandzi, Mayotte, December 17, 2024. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
A couple carries a boat, passing dozens of damaged boats in Dzaoudzi, Mayotte, December 17, 2024. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
The damage caused by the cyclone on the town of Mamoudzou is visible from the sea, December 18, 2024. (LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP)
