In Mayotte, some residents are wondering about the extent of the damage: stay to rebuild or leave while reconstruction takes place?
Every day, many people try to leave the island, as the TF1 news reported on site.
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Mayotte hit by powerful cyclone Chido
Some took everything they had left with them. “We come from the south of Mayotte, we have no more water, no more electricity, no supplies. So there, we no longer have drinking water. We have a one-year-old baby. So we are going to the airport and we'll see what happens.”explains a woman in the TF1 news report visible at the top of this article.
At Mamoudzou airport, whole groups of people are waiting to catch the next flight. Because since the devastating cyclone Chido, it is the prefecture which has managed repatriations, according to priorities: firstly, pregnant women, the injured, sick people. Over the past eight days, 3,200 people have been repatriated to Reunion Island.
We saw a lot of things we had never seen
Saudata, a Comorian resident of Mayotte
Some spent the night at the airport while others found shelter in the houses still standing nearby. “We don't know when we're going to be scheduled, or not scheduled. We're waiting and we don't have a roof over our heads. That's what we tell them: we're safer here, at the airport, it's raining”a young man reacts to our microphone.
For another, a mathematics teacher, it is not a farewell to the archipelago, rather a goodbye. “We're not running away. Personally, I don't want to run away, I want to come back. Because obviously, we've experienced something traumatic and we just need to breathe, see our loved ones, reassure them, reassure ourselves, rebuild ourselves psychologically . And after that, we will be able to come back because Mayotte needs us.”he believes.
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These officials are not the only ones who want to leave Mayotte. Since Wednesday, the French state has requisitioned boats to allow all volunteer Comorian nationals to reach their archipelago. There were more than 400 people taking these shuttles on Wednesday.
The only condition for boarding: having Comorian nationality. No distinction between those who are in an irregular situation and those who have a residence permit, like Saudata. “We saw a lot of things that we had never seen. (…) That’s why we decided to go to the Comoros, to go and rest”she explains. Objective declared by the authorities: to relieve congestion in the accommodation centers and schools, where all these people had found refuge following Cyclone Chido.
