French Prime Minister François Bayrou believes dozens of people died after the cyclone hit the territory, rather than thousands.

The swirling wind and rain hit an area where a yearslong insurgency had already forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

The death toll from Cyclone Chido has risen to 94 people in the southern African nation of Mozambique. More than 600,000 people have been impacted by the natural disaster according to local authorities.

Cyclone Chido has killed 94 people in Mozambique since it made landfall in the east African country last week, local authorities have said. The country's National Institute of Risk and Disaster Management (INGD) said 768 people were injured and more than 622,000 people affected by the natural disaster in some capacity.

Officials have said that the death toll in Mayotte, currently at 35, could end up in the thousands. But in the capital, there were no scenes of public mourning and little talk of searches for missing loved ones.