Rolling hills now barren: BBC sees devastation in cyclone-hit Mayotte

Landing on the small island of Petite-Terre in Mayotte, the scale of destruction from Cyclone Chido becomes immediately apparent.

It’s hard to exaggerate how completely devastated the landscape is in this French Indian Ocean territory, after the storm hit the islands on Saturday.

The rolling hills once covered with coconut trees now look barren and black. The leaves of the trees have blown away and their trunks have become horizontal.

The airport’s signal tower has been damaged due to strong winds of 220 km.

Even the nearest airport hotel – a solid structure and one of the few places with working Wi-Fi and electricity on the island – has a badly damaged roof and broken windows.

French authorities have reported at least 31 people killed, but thousands are still missing and there are fears the death toll could rise dramatically.

A state of extraordinary natural disaster has been declared for the region, one of the poorest parts of France, where many residents live in informal settlements.

Similar scenes of devastation on Mayotte’s other main island, Grande-Terre, greeted French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday morning when he arrived with four tons of food and health aid.

But as they survey the damage, some say the level of destruction here is a direct result of their low investment in the island.

With his government currently in disarray and France facing a fierce debate over migration, Mayotte finds itself at the center of a political storm as well as a physical one.

The thousands of illegal migrants on the island have long been a puzzle for the French government, and now some in France are arguing that providing too much aid to the territory would encourage more migrants to come.

Meanwhile, residents of France’s poorest department are still waiting for food, water and shelter.

As soon as we landed, it started raining heavily, blowing off roofs and flooding buildings.

This is just one example of some of the difficulties that residents of Mayotte have been facing for almost a week.

The state of emergency declared for Mayotte is designed for France’s overseas territories to overcome administrative hurdles to deal with the crisis more quickly and effectively.

It has been activated for one month, but can be extended for a period of two months if required.

“Faced with this extraordinary situation, extraordinary resources must be deployed to quickly restore vital services and implement a sustainable reconstruction plan for Mayotte,” said François-Noël Buffet, minister responsible for the overseas territories. “

Emergency services are delivering food and water and clearing roads, as well as working to find missing people.

Health workers are worried that infectious diseases could spread, as residents have reported a shortage of clean drinking water and shops are rationing supplies.

Officials have said their priority is to restart damaged water plants.

Half the area remains without electricity. A new curfew was imposed People have to stay in their homes for six hours throughout the night to prevent the possibility of looting.

Chido- The worst storm to hit the archipelago in 90 years – Wind gusts of more than 225 km/h (140 mph) on Saturday flattened areas where many people live in informal structures with sheet metal roofs and left areas of dirt and debris .

After Mayotte, the storm struck the African mainland, killing at least 45 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi.