“It is the most serious catastrophe in the history of France for several centuries.” It is with these words that Prime Minister François Bayrou described the cyclone which hit Mayotte last Saturday. Winds measured at more than 200 km/h ravaged everything, causing the death of at least 31 people and injuring 1,400 others, according to the latest report.
Benjamin Simonin has lived there with his wife and their child for a year and a half. The people of Neuchâtel bear witness to the violence of the cyclone which struck the archipelago that day. “It was impressive and much more violent than we thought,” he explains. “We kept wondering: is the roof going to collapse? It was really anguish,” says Benjamin Simonin.
Huge damage
During its passage, Cyclone Chido caused immeasurable damage. A clear observation that Benjamin Simonin was able to observe quickly after the disaster. “When I came out, it was devastation. The slums are completely destroyed. There is no more forest. It was horrible to see that,” explains the Neuchâtel resident.
“Like on a desert island”
Six days after the disaster, the population of the French archipelago is trying to get by. Often in very precarious conditions. “There is no electricity, no water, and we don’t know when it will come back. Everyone is trying to survive a little,” says Benjamin Simonin from Mayotte.
Following this cyclone, the French government activated the state of “exceptional natural calamity” for the first time on Thursday. A device which should facilitate the implementation of emergency measures on the archipelago.
For his part, Benjamin Simonin launched an appeal for donations to help his contacts and neighbors who lost everything or almost everything in the disaster. /gjo
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