One year after Cyclone Garance, residents affected by the disaster in Réunion are still "making do"

Leaning against a tree, a stone's throw from the river, Patrice frantically sands a piece of wood. "There's nothing left to see here, the hill is dead," says this resident of the Bas de La Rivière neighborhood in Saint-Denis, ravaged by Cyclone Garance a year ago.

On February 28, 2025, winds swept away dozens of houses in the east of this French island in the Indian Ocean while waters carried away other homes in Saint-Denis, the capital of Réunion.

A year later, the work is delayed, compensation is slow to arrive, and the bitterness of the residents is growing.

That day, Patrice, who wishes to remain anonymous, watched his house be swept away by the floodwaters. "I lost everything," he says. Since then, the man in his fifties, who declined to be rehoused, still lives there. "I sleep wherever I can, I manage," he says.

Around him, the neighborhood still bears the scars of Garance. Three houses were completely swept away, two others partially submerged, and the water rose to over a meter in many homes. The road disappeared beneath the flood. In its place, a dirt track riddled with potholes.

"All the asphalt was washed away during the flood. But no work has been done since," notes Nathalie, a neighbor of Patrice, also speaking under the cover of anonymity.

As for housing, time seems to have stood still as well. The majority of residents in this working-class neighborhood lived in uninsured housing due to a lack of building permits.

The neighborhood is located in a red flood zone, but most residents say they have lived here for several generations. "My grandfather, who is 93 years old, was born here. The land belonged to my great-grandfather," says Freddy Jean-Jacques, 43, who has "nothing left but the walls" of his house.

Furniture, appliances, everything was swept away by the mud. "I haven't bought anything new because the dike hasn't been rebuilt. In the event of another cyclone, the same thing will happen, or even worse," says this man who has moved in with his mother, "for lack of a better solution."

According to the authorities, "no long-term technical solution allows the residents of La Colline to remain safe".

In July, the municipality and the prefecture approved the demolition of three houses "at risk of collapsing." A decision perceived as an injustice by some. "Nobody wants to leave the neighborhood. The residents (...) were rehoused, but they didn't want to leave," asserts Freddy Jean-Jacques, who fears the entire neighborhood will be razed.

"A colossal undertaking"

An hour's drive east, Saint-Benoît was hit hard by Storm Garance. Gusts of 230 km/h struck this coastal town. More than a hundred families were affected.

"Families housed in emergency centers - mainly gymnasiums - have been able to be redirected to social housing," emphasizes Fabien Hoareau, director of the municipal social action center (CCAS), but several are still without a stable solution.

"A huge number of homes were affected, the damage is significant and even though the CCAS has put in place a housing improvement scheme, the task is colossal," notes Fabien Hoareau, acknowledging that "there is still a lot to do."

The state has nevertheless mobilized the emergency relief fund to provide financial support to the most vulnerable households: 1,9 million euros have been distributed to nearly 4.000 affected households, according to the prefecture of Réunion.

So, on average, less than 500 euros per household to cover re-equipment, furniture, household appliances and initial emergency work.