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.

The tropical storm has devastated the French territory located in the Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar. The number of dead in the French territory of Mayotte due to cyclone Chido could reach 1,000, the island's top government official reported on Sunday.

Emergency workers scrambled to rescue survivors on Monday from the wreckage of homes, hospitals, schools and businesses in Mayotte, a French archipelago in the Indian Ocean that was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Chido over the weekend.