Up to 1,000 feared dead as cyclone hits French territory Mayotte

PARIS - Emergency workers raced on Dec 16 to find survivors and restore services to the French overseas territory of Mayotte, where hundreds or even up to a thousand are feared dead from the worst cyclone to hit the Indian Ocean islands in nearly a century.

Parts of the islands, which were struck by Cyclone Chido over the weekend with winds of more than 200kmh, remained inaccessible to rescue workers on Dec 16, said French civil security spokesman Alexandre Jouassard.

"The next minutes and hours are very important," he told France 2 TV. "We are used to working in these conditions, and a few days after, you have pockets of survivors."

French President Emmanuel Macron was due to hold an emergency meeting about Mayotte on Dec 16, France's BFMTV reported.

The storm was the strongest to strike Mayotte in more than 90 years, French weather service Meteo France said.

It has a population of about 321,000 and is made up of two main islands over an area about twice the size of Washington in the US.

The wreckage of hundreds of makeshift houses was strewn across hillsides.

Coconut trees had crashed through building roofs and hospital corridors were flooded, according to images from local media and the French gendarmerie.