The full number of deaths caused by Cyclone Chido in the French overseas territory of Mayotte will not be known for some time, the authorities say.
“It will take days and days,” said France’s acting interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, during a visit to the archipelago on Monday.
The local prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville, told the local radio station on Sunday evening that he thought “certainly several hundred” people had been killed in the storm.
The French overseas territory of Mayotte is located in the Indian Ocean between the coast of the southeastern African country of Mozambique and the island nation of Madagascar.
About 310,000 people live on the archipelago. Cyclone Chido swept over Mayotte on Saturday with gusts of more than 220 kilometres per hour, leaving a trail of devastation.