Several hundred are feared dead after Typhoon Chido

Searches continued for survivors in Mayotte, a French island in the Indian Ocean, on Sunday after it was struck by a powerful hurricane.

Rescue workers are still trying to reach some communities, and it is feared the death toll will eventually reach thousands once the damage is fully assessed.

Entire settlements were flattened when Typhoon Chido brought winds exceeding 225 kilometers per hour (140 mph), with poor people living in makeshift shelters particularly hard hit.

Some of Mayotte's 320,000 residents said they were suffering from severe shortages of food, water and shelter.

“We haven't had water for three days, so it's starting to get worse,” said one resident of the capital, Mamoudzo, who was waiting in line for supplies.

“We are trying to get the bare minimum to live on, because we don’t know when the water will come back.”

Mohamed Ismail, a resident of Mamoudzou, told Reuters news agency that the situation there was a “tragedy.” “You feel like you are in the aftermath of a nuclear war… I saw an entire neighborhood disappear,” he said.

Another said they used a nearby school to take shelter, adding: “We can still turn to our neighbors, and we are still together and careful. We need everyone to come together.”

Poor communities in Mayotte, including illegal immigrants who have traveled to French territory in an attempt to seek asylum, are believed to have been particularly hard hit due to the vulnerable nature of their housing.

Its population relies heavily on French financial aid and has long suffered from poverty, unemployment, and political instability.

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

French President Emmanuel Macron said that his sympathies are with “our compatriots in Mayotte, who went through the most terrible few hours, some of whom lost everything, lost their lives.”

While some French relief and rescue workers have reached Mayotte, efforts to reach some communities are still underway.

The island's governor, François-Xavier Beauville, told local media that the death toll could rise significantly once the damage is fully assessed. He warned that the number “will certainly be several hundred” and could reach thousands.

French Interior Minister Bruno Ritello, who is scheduled to visit the island, acknowledged the “exceptional seriousness” of the hurricane and stressed that efforts were being intensified to help residents.

Cyclone Chido also brought strong winds and heavy rain to Mozambique, making landfall early Sunday about 25 miles (40.2 kilometers) south of the northern city of Pemba, according to the meteorological service.

The hurricane caused structural damage and power outages in the northern coastal provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado on Saturday morning, authorities said.

“We were hit hard in the early hours of this morning,” said Guy Taylor, spokesman for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Mozambique.

He added, “Many homes were destroyed or severely damaged, and health care facilities and schools stopped working.”

Taylor said UNICEF was concerned about the “lack of access to vital services,” including medical treatment, clean water and sanitation, as well as “the spread of diseases such as cholera and malaria.”