WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Nearly thousand people are feared dead as the worst cyclone in a century wreaked havoc across the French archipelago of Mayotte at the weekend, reports say.
Cyclone wind with speed of 140 mph lashed across two islands in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa on Saturday, inflicting widespread devastation.
Several neighborhoods were flattened by Cyclone Chido. The category 4 storm knocked out electrical grids, and destroyed hospitals and schools.
The control tower of the region's only airport, in Pamandzi, was damaged.
Mayotte is one of the overseas departments of France, located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeastern Africa, between Northwestern Madagascar and Northeastern Mozambique.
The impoverished former French colony has a population of more than 300,000.
Cyclone Chido also made landfall in Mozambique, killing three, uprooting trees, and damaging buildings.
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