In Mayotte, the feeling of abandonment of the “forgotten” people in the northwest of the island hit by the eye of the cyclone

Now, the majestic almond tree of Mtsangadoua beach, one of the most beautiful on the island, is leaning. Opposite the mosque, the century-old tree, appreciated for the shade of its round and thick leaves, bears Chido's wounds. But he resisted. Quite a symbol for Ali Houzainya, who praises the solidarity of the Mahorais after this unprecedented disaster in the Indian Ocean island, and a litany of other crises.

“Luckily we can count on ourselves to get through it”launches this energetic woman to denounce in counterpoint “the absence of local authorities and the State”. “On Petite-Terre, distributions have started. There is nothing here. This is not normal”she gets exasperated alongside her brother who is grilling pieces of chicken: their last reserves, thawed due to lack of power, soon to expire, and which they do not want to lose. “We saw the helicopter go by and that was it. We are abandoned. Where is the mobilization of the municipality, where is the mobilization of the State? », vehemently questions this principal education advisor at the neighboring Acoua high school (north-west).

This mixture of incomprehension, dismay and anger is widespread in this north-western part of Mayotte. An isolated and poor territory. Saturday, December 14, from 10 a.m., the eye of the cyclone, this low pressure zone of relative calm surrounded by a ring where the atmospheric disturbance shows its most dangerous and devastating aspects, crossed it on both sides. in part, with wind gusts of more than 200 km/h. With, for the first time, the wall of the eye; then around thirty minutes of calm before the other part of the wall.

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