One year after Cyclone Chido, Mayotte is slowly rebuilding

Sitting on a camping chair in front of the building constructed only five years ago by the Mayotte real estate company, Anli watches the passers-by. Next to him, pieces of placo, wood and metal bars are piled up.

The building's roof was torn off on December 14, 2024, when Cyclone Chido struck the archipelago, also destroying the top-floor apartments. Anli, a resident of the ground floor, continues to suffer from leaks due to the lack of intervention from the authorities.

Although work has been carried out in colleges and high schools over the summer to be able to welcome students for the start of the school year in August, homes and public buildings remain marked by the natural disaster.

According to the Housing Foundation, "60% of the island's buildings have been damaged or destroyed and more than 2/3 of collective housing has suffered damage".

"Explosion" of prices

"It took us a while to start the work," admits Ahmed Ali Mondroha, general manager of the Mayotte real estate company (SIM), who estimates the damage caused by the cyclone at 72 million euros. "Of the 1.600 homes affected, 500 have been able to be put back into service and about 600 are currently under repair."

But "building companies do not always have the necessary materials, prices have skyrocketed since the cyclone - sheet metal, for example, has increased by 40% - and delivery times have lengthened," explains the general manager.

According to Julian Champiat, president of the Mayotte Building and Public Works Federation (FMBTP), it now takes "four months" to receive an order, compared to "two months previously." This is mainly due to longer customs clearance times, linked to the large number of containers at the port of Longoni.

Due to a lack of cash flow—caused by a delayed resumption of activity and payment defaults—companies are also operating on a "just-in-time" basis. "They have no inventory," confirms the CEO of SIM. This is further slowing down construction projects.

"The economic fabric is largely weakened," emphasizes Fahardine Mohamed, president of the Medef (French Business Confederation) in Mayotte. This is particularly because the finances of the public sector—which represents 70% of the archipelago's economy—are "at their lowest point," he says. "After the cyclone, local authorities committed to spending to address the emergency. And they are nearing the end of their terms," ​​the Medef president points out.

"Water leaks everywhere"

They themselves were not spared. In downtown Mamoudzou, the town hall still has part of its roof torn off, and some premises are boarded up. A little further up, the roof of the Dembéni-Mamoudzou Agglomeration Community (Cadema) building remains covered with tarpaulins.

"We've been working remotely since the cyclone hit," confides a local government employee, wishing to remain anonymous. "My office is unusable, there are water leaks everywhere, and when it rains, the electricity trips. Nothing has been done. Local authorities have no money left."

Especially since insurance compensation payments are still slow to arrive. "We are expecting around 20 million euros," emphasizes the CEO of SIM.

Behind the counter of the Camion Blanc restaurant on the Mamoudzou seafront, Melie Razafindrasoa prepares papaya juice. "We're seeing them again at the market," she says happily. However, this resident of Doujani "still hasn't seen the insurance money." "We lost the windows and a door of the house during the cyclone. We repaired them ourselves, but every time it rains, the rooms flood," explains the waitress, who confides that she is "very afraid that another cyclone will come."

In Mayotte, the rainy season is beginning, and storms are becoming increasingly frequent. "Last time, there was a lot of wind and rain. My children were very scared; they're still traumatized," reports Melie Razafindrasoa. "As the new cyclone season has begun, thousands of affected households remain without decent and dignified housing," warns the Housing Foundation.