Hundreds of victims from the Chido cyclone that devastated the French island of Mayotte

Hundreds of people are feared missing after the worst cyclone in almost a century tore through the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on Saturday, uprooting trees, destroying homes and battering the poor archipelago's fragile infrastructure.

Rescue teams have been dispatched to the islands, which lie between the coasts of Mozambique and Madagascar, but their efforts are likely to be hampered by damaged airports and power outages in an area where clean drinking water is subject to shortages. chronic.

Speaking to Mayotte's La 1ere television station on Sunday, the archipelago's prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville, said the confirmed death toll of 11 was likely to rise over the coming days.

"I think it will certainly be a few hundred, maybe we'll get to a thousand, even a few thousand," he said.

Bieuville said it would be very difficult to get a final count as most residents were Muslim and so would traditionally bury their dead within 24 hours.

Determining an exact number will be very difficult given that France's interior ministry estimates that around 100,000 people live clandestinely in Mayotte.

The mayor of Mayotte's Mamoudzou capital, Ambdilëahedou Soumaila, told Agence France-Presse earlier that nine people were seriously injured when Cyclone Chido struck and were fighting for their lives in hospital, while 246 others were seriously injured.

"The hospital has been hit, the schools have been hit. The houses are completely destroyed," he said, adding that the cyclone had spared nothing.

One local resident, Ibrahim, told AFP of "apocalyptic scenes" as he made his way through the main island, forcing him to clear blocked roads himself.

Mayotte's 320,000 residents were ordered to close on Saturday after Chido made landfall on the islands, packing winds of at least 226 kilometers per hour.

Footage released by French gendarmerie forces showed the ruins of barracks scattered across the hills of one of Mayotte's islands, which have been a focal point for illegal immigration from nearby Comoros.

France's interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, would travel to Mayotte today (Monday), his office said, along with 160 soldiers and firefighters who will join the 110 personnel already stationed on the islands.

It takes four days by boat to reach Mayotte, located nearly 8,000 kilometers from Paris. Mayotte is poorer than the rest of France and has faced gang violence and social unrest for decades. (A2 Televizion)