The lasting reconstruction of Mayotte has not yet begun, after the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido, as the French overseas territory fears the consequences of a new disaster. The archipelago has been placed on red cyclone alert since Saturday January 11, at 10 p.m. hours (20 hours in Paris), due to the passage of tropical storm Dikeledi from Sunday morning.
In anticipation of the passage of Dikeledi, the 320 000 inhabitants of the poorest department in France were invited to take shelter “in a solid dwelling” or in one of the 79 emergency accommodation centers (schools, MJC, mosques, etc.) set up in all the municipalities of the archipelago. As of late Sunday morning, 14,500 people had been received in these centers, according to the prefecture.
The population was also called upon by the authorities to stock up on water and food to “hold out the weather of the cyclone”which was later downgraded to a tropical storm. During the alert, all traffic was prohibited, except for emergency services and authorized people, like this municipal police car on patrol.
Storm Dikeledi in Mayotte: a police car patrols
Personal travel being prohibited in Mayotte, only authorized vehicles can circulate, like this municipal police car, on January 12, 2025.
(MAYOTTE LA 1ERE / FRANCE TELEVISIONS)
The Mahorais streets and communication routes were therefore deserted on Sunday morning, as in Dzaoudzi, one of the main communes, on the eastern island of Petite-Terre.
Storm Dikeledi in Mayotte: a roundabout in Dzaoudzi
A roundabout filmed on the day storm Dikeledi passed, in Mayotte, January 12, 2025.
(MAYOTTE LA 1ERE / FRANCE TELEVISIONS)
The first torrential rains fell on Mayotte early in the morning, arriving at the northern tip of the archipelago. “The situation is getting worse.”noted on franceinfo the mayor of Mamoudzou, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, with gusts of wind and intensifying rain. “We are predicted to have 10 to 12 hours of continuous rain”while “houses” have already been “flooded” in the south of Mayotte, he reported, according to an initial report from the firefighters.
Storm Dikeledi in Mayotte: torrential rains fall on the archipelago
The rains began to fall heavily from Sunday morning over a very large part of Mayotte, on January 12, 2025.
(MAYOTTE LA 1ERE / FRANCE TELEVISIONS)
The situation is all the more worrying as “some households did not have time to re-cover”since the passage of Cyclone Chido, which left at least 39 dead, according to a report still provisional one month after the disaster.
For other homes, the tarpaulins put in place “do not resist” strong gusts and bad weather, deplores the mayor of Mamoudzou. This is also the case in Pamandzi, on Petite-Terre.
Other installations, such as fences, were also damaged during Dikeledi’s passage.
Storm Dikeledi in Mayotte: damaged installations
Facilities, such as this fence, were damaged by the passage of storm Dikeledi on January 12, 2025.
(MAYOTTE LA 1ERE / FRANCE TELEVISIONS)
The storm also hits areas that were not affected by the passage of Cyclone Chido, such as the village of Mbouini, on the southern tip of the archipelago.
After passing through the Mozambique Channel, Dikeledi is expected to pass a little more than 100 km south of Mayotte as a tropical storm on Sunday afternoon. It should again be classified as a tropical cyclone on Monday during the day. “Thereafter, it will continue to intensify, possibly reaching the stage of an intense tropical cyclone by making a turn towards the south then the south-east at the beginning of next week, more or less close to the African or Malagasy coasts”specifies Météo-France.
