France is rushing help by ship and military aircraft to its poor overseas territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean that has been shattered by its worst storm in nearly a century.

The death toll in the French territory of Mayotte from Cyclone Chido is “several hundred” and may run into the thousands, the island’s top government official told a local broadcaster Sunday.

In the worst cyclone to have hit the French overseas territory of Mayotte in 90 years, Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville said he expected the final death toll to reach ‘close to a thousand or even sev