Tropical Cyclone Chido was a compact but very powerful, destructive, and deadly tropical cyclone which impacted Southeast Africa in December 2024, hitting the islands of Mayotte on 14 December.
Heritage agencies began sharing reports of the damage (shared via Blue Shield France) on 1 January, reporting damage to archives and museums, and calling for aid. Blue Shield France quickly launched an Appeal for aid.
Two volunteers – Charlotte and Emmanuel – went to help the Museum of Mayotte. Blue Shield France is an accredited disaster response agency with the French government: their volunteers are rigorously trained. The deployed volunteers stayed in a base camp with other emergency responders.
The work was carried out in challenging conditions. In terms of climate, the heat is intense with temperatures reaching 30-32°C, but the humidity makes the feeling even more suffocating. The museum, located near the sea, offers a bit of coolness, although the corrosion of the metals poses a challenge. The volunteers lived in a base camp alongside dedicated teams: officers, firefighters and specialists in logistics, telecommunications and medical support. Together, they worked tirelessly to provide help and comfort.
By mid-January, food shops were starting to reopen, but some shelves remain desperately empty due to supply difficulties. Fortunately, a stock of rainwater made it possible to compensate for the lack of running water, although it was not yet drinkable. Military showers, fed by this same water, offer a little respite in this difficult context.
The first step was to help the team at the Museum of Mayotte to set up protections to protect the collections from a new incoming storm – Dikeledi. Cofferdams made with any available means were installed in front of the doors to prevent water from entering the building. They placed preventive tarpaulin over rooms or shelves likely to be subjected to rain. The new tarpaulin of the roof of the fire station is being carried out in parallel with another team of rescuers.
Tropical storm Dikeledi caused further damage to Mayotte but fortunately the preventive measures put in place at the Museum limited the damage.
Charlotte and Emmanuel were able to leave the base camp around 3 pm and arrived at the museum around 4 pm, where they noted with satisfaction that there had been no new areas of water infiltration. The rain naturally infiltrated the spaces where the roof had been blown away by Chido, but the situation was stable. The tarpaulin that covered part of the roof flew away with Dikeledi, but the objects covered in situ remained in relative safety! The cofferdams set up in front of the doors were very effective and the tarpaulin -covered objects were protected. However, the humidity level was very high, especially because of the stagnant water in the rooms, and closed windows to limit infiltration in case of rain.
After the passage of Dikeledi, the 2 team members set up a processing chain for the archaeological pieces with the team of the Museum of Mayotte:
- Condition report and sorting of objects
- Healthy objects that do not require treatment and are packaged for storage
- Damp or wet objects awaiting treatment
- Drying area with a fan.
Charlotte had to protect herself with a mask to take care of lead objects. Most of the objects look healthy and little affected by water damage because they were all dry or have dried. Careful observation was carried out on all sides of the objects to find any sign of water damage from the cyclones. For example, the taut skin of a Mayotte tari was already torn, but the differences in colour indicate that a tear has recently enlarged, probably due to high humidity and/or thermal shock.
The interior veneers of the drawer warped, lifted and torn from direct contact with the water.
The team installed a tarpaulin in front of a drying area to prevent rain from seeping in. After a week, the drying area was still active but could now be spread over the stations that were used for sorting and evaluation. Tarpaulins were placed over the piles of crates as a precaution, in case the roof tarpaulin did not hold.
Work began, even while waiting for equipment to be delivered. Following the Appeal, the Director of the BSF Emergency Response Service was able to take a truckload of equipment to the airport.
Documentation used an Excel database that includes the recommendations of the PROCULTHER-NET program in order to be as efficient as possible.
Anicha (yellow helmet), the museum’s new manager who arrived very recently, took advantage of Charlotte’s presence to discuss the various issues of preventive conservation of the collection, which are unfortunately very numerous after the passage of Chido.
The volunteers also took care of more physical tasks in parallel with agents in the department. For example, Emmanuel recovered equipment to clear the courtyard and store elements of Mayotte’s industrial heritage in the parking lot of the Mayotte Museum, in particular from a former sugar factory. The work carried out is impressive as evidenced by the photos taken before and after.
Charlotte and Emmanuel also took a barge to go to the Departmental Archives of Mayotte which are located in Mamoudzou. They were able to see the immense work carried out by the team since the passage of Chido. Fortunately, tropical storm Dikeledi did not cause more damage.
After several weeks, Emmanuel and Charlotte were finally able to walk on the beach next to the base camp. A great way to recharge their batteries before returning to their mission. In addition to their work, Charlotte had the chance to discover the “msindanu”, a traditional Mayotte beauty mask, to protect herself from the sun. She tested it on her hand and loved the experience!
Blue Shield France have worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the situation and appeal for donations that allowed them to send their volunteers and much needed equipment to support in recovering its heritage along other disaster responders. Their volunteers have recently returned home, and we thank them for their tireless support.
The text and photographs of this report are taken from the Linked In page of Blue Shield France
