Close to 1,000 people may have been killed after Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, according to the island’s top official.
Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told local TV: “I think there are some several hundred dead, maybe we’ll get close to a thousand, even thousands… given the violence of this event.”
However, he said it was currently “extremely difficult” to get an exact number.
Chido caused extensive damage on Saturday, with the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar also affected, and the cyclone has now hit Mozambique.
Forecaster Meteo-France said Chido was the strongest storm to hit the islands in more than 90 years.
Winds of more than 124mph (200kmh) ripped roofs off houses and destroyed numerous buildings.
Mayotte is an impoverished overseas department of France and is spread over two main islands about 500 miles (805km) off Africa’s east coast.
President Emmanuel Macron said: “My thoughts are with our compatriots in Mayotte, who have gone through the most horrific few hours, and who have, for some, lost everything, lost their lives.”
The main airport and hospital also suffered major damage, said new prime minister Francois Bayrou.
He said many people living in precarious shacks in slum areas had been at serious risk from the cyclone.
Video from the French gendarmerie showed the wreckage of hundreds of makeshift houses littered across hills.
Mohamed Ishmael, who lives in Mayotte’s capital Mamoudzou, told Reuters news agency: “Honestly, what we are experiencing is a tragedy, you feel like you are in the aftermath of a nuclear war… I saw an entire neighbourhood disappear.”
One hospital in Mayotte reported nine people were in a critical condition and another 246 were injured.
However, France’s interior ministry said it was proving difficult to get a precise tally of casualties.
France sends reinforcements and aid
The ministry said 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers had been sent to help local rescuers and firefighters from Mayotte and nearby Reunion.
Supplies were also being rushed in on military aircraft and ships.
Mayotte has a population of just over 300,000 and more than 100,000 are undocumented migrants, according to the French interior ministry.
It’s the country’s poorest region and has struggled with drought, underinvestment and gang violence for decades.
Cyclone Chido has now made landfall in Mozambique on the African mainland, where the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Cabo Delgado province, home to around two million people, had been hit hard.
“Many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed and we are working closely with government to ensure continuity of essential basic services,” the organisation said.
“While we are doing everything we can, additional support is urgently needed.”
UNICEF Mozambique spokesman Guy Taylor said in a video that communities now face the prospect of being cut off from schools and health facilities for weeks.
Malawi and Zimbabwe have also made emergency plans, with both warning they may have to evacuate low-lying areas due to flooding.
December until March is cyclone season in the southeastern Indian Ocean, and southern Africa has been pummelled by a series of strong storms in recent years.
In 2019, Cyclone Idai killed more than 1,300 in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, while Cyclone Freddy left more than 1,000 dead across several countries last year.