[REPORTAGE]The mobilization of relief and the army made it possible to save Mayotte

Chainsaws who clear the airstrip in full purple alert, divers who scan the depths of the port of Longoni or even gendarmes who restore the radio network, the mobilization of emergency services and the army made it possible to save Mayotte cut off from the world. The report of BV.

Chido plunges Mayotte into chaos. On Saturday December 14, the island, ravaged by gusts of 220 km/h, was cut off from France and the world. A race against time begins to re-establish air and sea routes as well as the radio network. In Reunion and Mayotte, a few hours after the cyclone, we witnessed the incredible mobilization of relief efforts. The day after Chido's passage, an airlift was set up, taking the island of Reunion, a department located on the other side of Madagascar, as a support base. Two Casas, transport planes from Air Base 181, are requisitioned. A quarter of the Air Force's A400M fleet is made available for humanitarian cargo transport and the field hospital.

Chainsaws clear the airport runway

To make the runway at Pamandzi airport in Mayotte usable, it was necessary to count on the courage of three soldiers from the 25^e air engineering regiment. The cyclone's purple alert has not yet been lifted when three men, armed with chainsaws and escorted by legionnaires, brave the elements. Their mission: to clear the track of trees swept by wind gusts of 220 km/h. Mayotte is then cut off from the world and from itself. Without drinking water, without food and without medical support, its population is condemned to this natural state of siege. Through hard work, the chainsaws are re-establishing an air corridor. Only twenty hours after the passage of Cyclone Chido, the first humanitarian cargo plane places its landing gear on a passable runway. A ball of comings and goings of giants of the sky is inaugurated. Now, when a plane lands, it is immediately unloaded by Fenwick™. Its cargo: bottles of water, cans of sardines and canned peeled tomatoes which are placed directly in covered gendarmerie trucks to be distributed to the population. We will witness this entire sequence, from the support base in Reunion to the distribution point in Oupie or even Pamandzi. We can only attest to its speed of execution. An observation shared by Ali (first name has been changed), a Congolese migrant whom we meet on a bench in front of Sodifram, the food store in his neighborhood. “ I crossed many African countries to come, fortunately this cyclone did not hit them, it would have been a thousand times worse, as Macron said », testifies the one who practices the profession of artist. “ Where I come from, the leaders would simply never have warned the population of the arrival of the natural disaster! “, he continues, before concluding: “ There, we were quickly warned. »

The seaport can be used again

It is with the same celerity that the sea route is re-established. Divers from the surveillance frigate Floréal once the storm had passed, examined the depths of the port of Longoni and listed the wrecks. This is what allows the Champlainanother ship of the French Navy, to today supply the coastal villages of Mayotte with drinking water and food. More discreet, but no less essential, was the work of the gendarmes of the digital agency of the internal security forces (ANFSI). Suspended more than ten meters high, on December 25 we observed two operators “repointing the dishes” on an antenna in the south of Mayotte. On Christmas Day, 100% of the emergency radio network was restored, as we learned from the walkie-talkie of one of the gendarmes. This network allows all firefighters and civil security personnel to communicate with each other. The ANFSI gendarmes we meet are also colleagues of Captain Florian Monnier. An officer who died in these operational conditions and whose sacrifice was praised by the Minister of the Interior.

If we were able to witness the action of the State, Mayotte is an island where, unfortunately, an ocean of misery extends. Like on the outskirts of Pamandzi, where shanty towns stretch out as far as the eye can see. To the point that a resident of this commune of Petite-Terre tells us: “ Since the cyclone swept away the trees, I discovered that the hill opposite was covered with unsanitary habitats. » Will Mayotte be able to face a humanitarian crisis that seems insoluble?