HUNDREDS or thousands of people are feared dead after Cyclone Chido devastated the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, authorities warned today.

The cyclone, thought to be the worst to hit the region in nearly a century, levelled entire neighbourhoods of metal shacks and other flimsy structures on Saturday.

Damage to roads and the main airport hampered aid efforts and residents were left without food or water following the disaster.

Mayotte Senator Salama Ramia said that many people heading to shelters found dire conditions.

“There’s no water, no electricity,” she said. “Hunger is starting to rise.

“It’s urgent that aid arrives, especially when you see children, babies, to whom we have nothing concrete to offer.”

Mayotte is the poorest place in the European Union and has a dense population of around 300,000 people, most of whom are Muslim.

Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville, France’s top government official in the island group, said that the death toll was several hundred people and could even be in the thousands.

He said that it would be extremely hard to count the deaths and many might never be recorded, partly due to the Muslim tradition of burying people within 24 hours.

Mayotte is also a destination for people from even poorer countries, like nearby Comoros and Somalia, who may have entered illegally — making them hard to track down.

Mayotte’s people have previously expressed discontent that their archipelago suffers from underinvestment and neglect by the French government.

Last year, the French army tried to quell protests on the islands after a drought and mismanagement led to water shortages.

The French government said today that about 1,600 police officers and gendarmes were deployed on the ground to help.