DECRYPTION – The presence of numerous shanty towns, where the vast majority of illegal migrants were crowded together, may explain the devastating effects of Cyclone Chido in certain neighborhoods.
Plates of metal, beams, rubble and inhabitants who helplessly observe this field of ruin. Under the violence of wind gusts reaching 220 km/h, certain districts of Mayotte were wiped off the map. It is the slums, or 40% of housing in Mayotte, which have suffered the most massive destruction. It is estimated that around 100,000 people lived in these precarious habitats, mainly illegal Comorian immigrants. Since its attachment to France, the 101st French department has never succeeded in resolving the housing problem, which has worsened with migratory pressure.
When Mayotte decided, in 1976, to remain within the French fold, the State designated the question of housing as a priority. Almost all of the housing was then made of earth, coconut leaves and wood, materials very sensitive to monsoon rains and cyclones. The Mayotte real estate company (SIM), a social landlord…
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