Several hundred were feared dead in the wake of Cyclone Chido

Residents of Mayotte have spoken of the “devastating conditions” caused by the worst storm in 90 years to hit the French Indian Ocean region.

Cyclone Chido brought wind speeds of over 225km/h (140mph), flattening areas where the poor live in metal-roofed shacks.

“We have had no water for three days,” said another resident of the capital Mamoudzou. “Some of my neighbors are hungry and thirsty,” said another.

Rescuers, including reinforcements from France, scrambled through the rubble to search for survivors. Twenty people have been confirmed dead, but the local manager said it could be thousands.

Authorities said they were having difficulty establishing a death toll because of the large number of undocumented migrants – more than 100,000 – out of a population of 320,000.

Widespread damage to infrastructure – with downed power lines and impassable roads – is severely hampering emergency operations.

Supplies have started to arrive, but there are severe shortages of food, water and shelter in some areas. About 85 percent of the area remains without power, and only about 20 percent of phones seem to be working. Some areas are starting to get tap water.

“The pictures are a cover-up. It’s a disaster, there’s nothing left,” a nurse working at the main hospital in Mamoudzou told BFM TV.

A resident of Mamoudzou, John Balloz, said he was surprised that he did not die when the storm hit.

“Everything is damaged, almost everything, the water treatment plant, the electrical equipment, there is a lot to be done.”

Mohamed Ishmael, who also lives in the capital, he told the Reuters news agency: “You feel like you’re in the background of a nuclear war … I saw the whole place disappear.”

“It’s hunger that worries me the most,” Mayotte Senator Salama Ramia told French media. “There are people who did not eat or drink,” he said since Saturday.

Francois-Xavier Bieuville, the island’s manager, told local media that the death toll could rise significantly once the damage is fully assessed. He warned that it would “definitely be a few hundred” and could reach thousands.

Mayotte’s poor communities, including undocumented migrants who have traveled to French territory in an attempt to seek asylum, are thought to be particularly affected by the vulnerable state of their homes.

The Muslim tradition of burying the dead within 24 hours also means that the number of those who died was very heavy, said the manager.

In addition to the aid, 110 French soldiers have arrived to help with the rescue, and another 160 are on the way. About 800 more from the ranks of emergency volunteers were also being sent to join the local police.

After arriving in Mayotte, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said “days and days” would be needed to identify the missing people.

The relief work is coordinated from Reunion – another French overseas territory.

French Red Cross spokesman Eric Sam Vah told the BBC that the situation was “up and down”.

He said that the organization was able to reach only 20 of the 200 volunteers of the Red Cross in Mayotte and added fear about the number of people who died.

“The slums have been completely destroyed, we haven’t received any reports of people being evicted, so the reality is likely to get worse in the coming days,” said a spokesperson for BBC Radio 4’s Today.

France colonized Mayotte in 1841 – and at the beginning of the 20th century it added the three large islands that make up the Comoros archipelago to its overseas territories.

The Comoros voted for independence in 1974 but Mayotte decided to remain part of France.

The island’s population is heavily dependent on French financial aid and has long struggled with poverty, unemployment and political instability.

About 75% of the population lives below the national poverty line and unemployment is prevalent at about one in three.

Cyclone Chido also made landfall in Mozambique, where it brought floods, uprooted trees and destroyed buildings about 40 kilometers south of the northern town of Pemba. It has been reported that three have died.

The typhoon caused damage and power outages in the northern coastal provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado on Saturday morning, local authorities reported.

Guy Taylor, spokesman for the aid organization Unicef ​​​​in Mozambique, said “we were hit hard in the early hours of today”.

“Many houses have been destroyed or severely damaged, and health centers and schools are no longer working,” he added.

Mr Taylor said Unicef ​​was concerned about “loss of access to critical services”, including medical treatment, clean water and sanitation, and “the spread of diseases such as cholera and malaria”.

Chido is the latest deadly typhoon of such strength.

It strengthened because of its long track over the ocean, said Sarah Keith-Lucas of the BBC Weather Centre. This typhoon would have weakened if it had made landfall in the desert region of Madagascar.

But it’s also true that climate change is having an impact – not on the frequency of storms but on the intensity, says Keith-Lucas.

The storm has now been downgraded to a “depression” status and will make landfall in southern Malawi, then Mozambique’s Tete province, before heading towards Zimbabwe on Tuesday night.

It could bring 150-300mm of rain by the end of Tuesday.