Just over a month after Cyclone Chido devastated the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, schools are preparing for the return of students next week.
Teachers and administrative staff were called back to work on Monday to find some classrooms destroyed, while others were missing a roof or windows.
At the Lycée de Petite Terre high school in Mamoudzou, locals and firefighters are still working to consolidate some of the main buildings.
“We deployed over 60 people on this site, aiming to secure as many classrooms as possible so that students can come back to safe buildings,” says Colonel Olivier Bruyère, south-east squad chief.
“We took out anything that could cause injuries and we’re covering everything with tarpaulin to keep things dry.”
Classes are due to start next week, after they were postponed due to the threat of another cyclone, underlying the challenges faced by the island.
Lycée de Petite Terre’s assistant headmistress, Peggy Guillerez, says the school was impacted.
“Notably, we had built a superb student’s union building but it was, in large part, destroyed. But beyond that, compared to others, the damage is minimal,” she says.
“There are about 12 rooms that we cannot use which is not that many with regards to the size of the school.”
Many people, including students and teachers, are still without shelter, water, or electricity following Cyclone Chido.
As a result, schools are not certain how many of the island’s 117,000 children will show up to class.
The cyclone was the worst to hit the island in nearly a century.
