Clean-up ongoing in Mayotte after Cyclone Chido devastates French overseas territory

Clean-up operations have begun in the French overseas territory of Mayotte, a day after Cyclone Chido barrelled across the archipelago.

Footage released by the French Civil Protection agency showed rescue services and armed forces cleaning up debris and trees strewn across the streets.

The French Interior Ministry said it was proving difficult to get a precise tally of the dead and injured in Mayotte but so far 11 deaths have been confirmed.

Speaking to a local TV station earlier on Sunday, Mayotte Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville said, "I think there are some several hundred dead, maybe we’ll get close to a thousand."

A hospital in Mayotte reported that nine people were in critical condition there and 246 others were injured.

Cyclone Chido blew through the southeastern Indian Ocean, also affecting the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar.

Mayotte was directly in the path of the cyclone and suffered extensive damage on Saturday, officials said.

Chido brought winds in excess of 220kph, according to the French weather service, ripping roofs off houses in the archipelago which has a population of just over 300,000.

In some parts, entire neighbourhoods of metal shacks and huts were flattened, while residents reported many trees had been uprooted, boats flipped or sunk and the electricity supply knocked out.

Officials in Mayotte said it was the worst cyclone to hit the territory almost a century.

The French Interior Ministry said 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers have been deployed to "help the population and prevent potential looting."

More than 100 rescuers and firefighters have been deployed in Mayotte from France and the nearby territory of Reunion and an additional reinforcement of 140 people was sent on Sunday.

France has also sent aid to the island aboard military planes.

Mayotte is France's poorest department and has previously struggled with drought and lack of investment.

It's also been plagued by gang violence and tensions spiked earlier this year due to a widespread water shortage.

The cyclone has now made landfall on the east coast of Africa, slamming into northern Mozambique.

UNICEF said Cabo Delgado province, home to around two million people, had been hit hard.

"UNICEF is concerned about the immediate impacts of this cyclone: the loss of life, the damage to schools, to people's homes, to health care facilities," said Guy Taylor, UNICEF Mozambique’s chief advocacy and communications officer.

"We're also worried about the longer-term impacts: children potentially being cut off from learning for weeks on end, people unable to get access to health care and the potential spread of waterborne diseases like cholera and malaria,” said Guy Taylor, UNICEF Mozambique’s chief advocacy and communications officer."