As Mayotte prepares to mark one year since the French island department was hit by Cyclone Chido, recovery has been hampered by soaring costs, supply bottlenecks and stretched public finances. With this year’s cyclone season under way, thousands of residents are still living with leaks, unfinished repairs and rising anxiety.

Issued on: 10/12/2025 - 08:09

3 min Reading time

Nearly a year after Cyclone Chido devastated Mayotte, large parts of the Indian Ocean archipelago remain visibly battered, with reconstruction advancing far more slowly than promised.

While emergency work on secondary schools allowed them to reopen to pupils in August, most public buildings and homes still bear deep scars.

In the capital Mamoudzou’s Hauts-Vallons neighbourhood – a residential district popular with civil servants – mounds of rubble lie untouched.

According to the Housing Foundation: "Sixty percent of the island’s buildings were damaged or destroyed and more than two-thirds of collective housing suffered damage."

Ahmed Ali Mondroha, managing director of Mayotte’s main social housing provider, said the scale of destruction has proven overwhelming.

"It took us a long time to start the work," he said, estimating the total cost of the damage at €72 million. "Of the 1,600 homes affected, 500 have been restored to use and around 600 are currently undergoing repairs."

But even with crews on site, he says progress has been hampered by a succession of obstacles

"Construction companies do not always have the necessary materials, prices have skyrocketed since the cyclone hit – sheet metal, for example, has increased by 40 percent – and delivery times have lengthened."

A boy carries a roofing sheet in the aftermath of Cyclone Chido, in Passamainty, Mayotte, 20 December 2024. © Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters

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Supply delays

Julian Champiat, president of the Mayotte Federation of Building and Public Works (FMBTP), also spoke of the pressure on logistics, saying it now takes four months to receive an order of materials, compared with two months previously.

These delays are largely attributed to clogged customs procedures at Longoni’s commercial port, where a surge in containers has created bottlenecks.

Adding to the strain, many companies are struggling financially, with cash flow weakened by a slow restart in activity and a wave of payment defaults, causing further delays across the construction sector.

"The economic fabric is greatly weakened," said Fahardine Mohamed, president of the Medef employers union in Mayotte.

Public sector finances – which underpin around 70 percent of the local economy – are, he said, "at an all-time low".

After the cyclone, local authorities "committed to spending to deal with the emergency, and they are at the end of their term of office," he noted, leaving budgets severely depleted.

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Exposed to the elements

Authorities too have been hit hard. In central Mamoudzou, part of the town hall roof was torn off and several offices remain unusable.

Higher up the hillside, the headquarters of the Dembéni-Mamoudzou urban community – Cadema – is still covered with tarpaulin rather than tiles.

"We’ve been working from home since the cyclone hit," said one local authority employee, who asked not to be named. "My office is unusable, there are water leaks everywhere and when it rains, the electricity cuts out. Nothing has been done. The local authorities have no money left."

Insurance payouts, too, are lagging. "We’re waiting for around €20 million," said Mondroha.

At the Camion Blanc restaurant on Mamoudzou’s seafront, Melie Razafindrasoa prepares a papaya juice and notes one small sign of normality returning.

"We’re seeing [people] again at the market," she said cheerfully. But her smile fades when she talks about her own home, saying she has still not received any 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 are flooded," she explained, adding that she remains "very afraid of another cyclone coming".

The rainy season has just begun, bringing more frequent storms. "Last time, there was a lot of wind and rain. My children were very scared, they are still traumatised."

(with AFP)