Mayotte’s Resilience: Rebuilding After the Cyclone’s Fury

After crashing into the islands of Mayotte on December 14, 2024, Cyclone Chido left in its wake devastating scenes. Winds of hurricane strength ripped roofs off houses, knocked over utility poles, and uprooted trees in this French territory situated off the southeastern coast of Africa. In several regions, the formerly vibrant green landscape had turned brown.

The transformation is evident in these satellite visuals of Mayotte’s primary island (Grande Terre). The OLI (Operational Land Imager) onboard Landsat 8 captured the right image on December 30, two weeks following the Category 4-equivalent cyclone’s landfall. The left image depicts the same area under more typical conditions two months prior to the cyclone.

Jess Zimmerman, an ecology professor at the University of Puerto Rico, has investigated how hurricanes in the Atlantic basin affect tree composition. However, tropical cyclones also impact vegetation on landforms in other basins, including the southwest Indian Ocean depicted here. After examining these images, Zimmerman observed that vegetation damage was particularly prominent on the hillsides just west of Mamoudzou, the capital city.

Strong winds can blow leaves off trees and break branches, while heavy rainfall and gales facilitate tree uprooting from saturated soils. Trees located at high elevations and on steep inclines are more susceptible to damage during storms due to their increased exposure to strong wind speeds.

Agence France-Presse reported that during Cyclone Chido, a 300-year-old giant baobab in Mayotte fell onto a restaurant, and a 3-meter (10-foot) mound of earth now occupies the space where an acacia tree was uprooted by the storm. According to a humanitarian assessment, banana plants and other crops were destroyed in the tempest, endangering the food supply for island residents.

Chido also inflicted damage on the islands’ infrastructure, including the airport, healthcare facilities, and transportation routes, hindering access to power, water, and communication services. The European Commission’s satellite evaluation of the cyclone’s aftermath revealed that a significant portion of the affected infrastructure on Grande Terre was located in the northeast, where the cyclone made landfall.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, utilizing Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Emily Cassidy.