Mayotte’s airport has reopened to commercial flights, allowing civilians to return to the French Indian Ocean archipelago more than two weeks after it was devastated by Cyclone Chido. Thousands of families who lost their homes in the storm are being forced to leave emergency shelters but have nowhere to go.
Until now, only military or state-chartered planes were authorised to land in Mayotte, delivering humanitarian aid and personnel. As of Wednesday, the five airlines that operated before the cyclone will gradually resume services.
CorsAir and AirAustral are resuming links with neighbouring Reunion Island and mainland France. The three others – Kenya Airways, Ewa Air and Amelia – are expected to follow.
The civil aviation authority said flights will resume “progressively” to avoid disrupting the ongoing delivery of aid and emergency staff, with around 100 journeys per day.
The resumption of flights comes after lengthy security checks to both the airport and the surrounding area. Runways had to be cleared, signalling repaired and sufficient ground staff mobilised.
Pamandzi’s control tower, badly damaged by Cyclone Chido, is being temporarily replaced by a mobile tower provided by the French airforce.
'Nowhere to go'
At least 39 people have been confirmed dead and more than 5,000 injured in the most devastating cyclone to hit Mayotte in 90 years.
Thousands of families were left homeless after high winds flattened the shanty towns where between 100,000 and 200,000 of the archipelago's 300,000 population lived. Many are undocumented migrants from neighbouring Comoros.
They've been housed in temporary shelters, often schools.
"There's no electricity here," said Mrahzati Abdallah, one of the team managing the Le Manguier school in the capital Mamoudzou that's served as an emergency shelter.
Tables turned as Comoros offers lifeline to Mayotte's cyclone survivors
On Monday, Mamoudzou’s mayor, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, told visiting Prime Minister François Bayrou that all shelters in the city would close on 1 January to prepare schools for reopening on 20 January.
But homeless families are not sure where to go, as the authorities struggle to restore water, power and telecoms to France's poorest department.
"We just need time to rebuild our house," said Siti, a middle school student in the capital. "With my mother there are six of us, the youngest is just a few months old. We don't know where to go now. We know where to build, but we haven't had time yet."
Soumaila said Bayrou had committed to "taking care of all these families who will have no place to sleep", but details of the plan remain unclear.
On Monday, Bayrou announced a two-year construction plan for Mayotte. However, frustration is mounting among locals over the slow delivery of aid and delays in restoring water and electricity.
In an open letter published Saturday, local citizens’ groups decried the “flagrant insufficiency” of support following the cyclone.
(with AFP)
