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.

Residents of the capital Mamoudzou whose houses survived the storm hammered metal sheets to cover damaged roofs. Thousands of flimsier huts across the city's shantytowns were razed entirely, leaving fields of dirt and debris.