The death toll from Cyclone Chido's rampage through the French overseas territory of Mayotte remained unclear on Wednesday, with shantytowns that were home to undocumented migrants flattened and many areas still inaccessible.

Hundreds are feared dead after the storm razed entire neighborhoods in Mayotte, a series of islands off the eastern coast of Africa, before unleashing its destructive force on Mozambique.

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.