Mayotte volunteers face 'massive destruction' in the wake of Cyclone Chido

When Cyclone Chido first hit Mayotte, few could foresee the destruction it would cause. The storm, described as “small but incredibly powerful”, tore down all kinds of critical infrastructure: homes, roads, transmission lines, water plants, and, crucially, the airport’s control tower.

The level of structural damage is unquantifiable, thousands of people are injured or missing, and the total death toll remains unknown — partly because communication both with and within the island is now almost impossible.

“The situation in Mayotte is extremely degraded," said Baptiste Rivoire, National Operations Coordinator for Protection Civile. "People lack vital resources — water, food, even access to money."

Rivoire is in charge of coordinating the on-the-ground response to the catastrophe, a task made difficult by the breakdown of flight routes between Mayotte, the mainland, and the other islands.

"I spoke yesterday with the President of the Department of Mayotte, who confirmed how serious the difficulties are. Communicating with people on the ground is incredibly challenging because the transmission network was fully destroyed."

“It’s dangerous not just for the volunteers, but for all emergency responders—police officers, firefighters, and security personnel,” added Rivoire.

Mayotte’s 320,000 inhabitants have been left without water, electricity, and internet access. Electrical towers and trees were torn down, schools and hospitals are badly damaged, and many roads are still blocked by debris.

Most of the island’s urban areas consisted of fragile shanty towns, and the storm destroyed almost all of them. Among the casualties is France’s biggest shanty town, Kaweni, which housed around 20,000 people — though only 5,000 of them have been