Local officials in the French territory Mayotte fear as many as 1,000 people have died after Tropical Cyclone Chido hit the island off the coast of Mozambique on Saturday.

France used ships and military aircraft to rush rescue workers and supplies to its tiny Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on Monday after the island group was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century.

French authorities said more than 800 more personnel were expected to arrive in the coming days as rescuers comb through the devastation caused by Chido when it hit the densely populated archipelago of around 300,