Reunion Islanders rally to support cyclone-hit Mayotte with aid donations

On the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion, communities are coming together to help the people of cyclone-devastated Mayotte, a three-hour flight away.

A steady stream of people can be seen bringing food, water, clothes and other aid to a community centre in the city of Saint Denis.

They are hoping to fill a container that they can send via a military plane.

The island of Mayotte, also in the Indian Ocean but closer to the coast of Africa, is one of the poorest parts of France.

It was battered over the weekend by its worst cyclone in nearly a century, with the authorities saying they fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died.

Survivors wandered through streets littered with debris, searching for water and shelter, after Cyclone Chido levelled entire neighbourhoods.

Anrafa Parassouramin, a volunteer with family in Mayotte, says the biggest concern is to get food to people quickly, and the lack of water.

“We are also afraid of disease outbreaks, because people are drinking water from wherever they can get it, and it’s not necessarily potable water,” she says.

“We will rebuild. Families are already helping each other, there is a lot of solidarity between every family but it will be excellent when the state aid arrives too.”

With many parts of the island still inaccessible, it may take days to discover the full extent of the destruction.

Opposition politicians in mainland France have criticised what they say is the government's neglect of Mayotte and its failure to prepare the island for extreme weather linked to climate change.