According to the latest toll from the interior ministry, 22 people are confirmed to have been killed and 1,373 injured by Cyclone Chido when it barrelled into the archipelago at the weekend.
But authorities fear that hundreds, and possibly even thousands, will be confirmed dead once the true scale of the toll is revealed after the rubble is cleared and roads are unblocked.
Cyclone Chido was the latest in a string of storms worldwide fuelled by climate change, with the exceptional system being super-charged by particularly warm Indian Ocean waters, according to experts.
Rescuers were searching for survivors in the wreckage and said they expected to find numerous victims in the ruins of slums such as ones in the capital Mamoudzou.
In a sign of the potential magnitude of the tragedy, the Red Cross said it feared more than 200 of its volunteers were missing on Mayotte.
“The toll is, as of today, at more than 20 dead, 200 badly wounded and 1,500 wounded in a relative state of urgency,” Prime Minister Francois Bayrou told parliament.
“This toll could rise. We all know this,” he added.
‘Completely devastated’
The health services are in tatters while power and mobile phone services have been knocked out.
The airport is closed to civilian flights and there is mounting concern over how to ensure supplies of drinking water.
Bayrou said progress was being made with about 50 percent of the electricity network restarted, with a target of 75 percent “by the end of the week”.
The main hospital has recovered around half of its activity, and “about 80 percent of the road network is accessible again”, he added.
