The death toll in the French territory of Mayotte from Cyclone Chido is “several hundred” and may run into the thousands, the island’s top government official told a local broadcaster Sunday.

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.

“Our island is being hit by the most violent and destructive cyclone since 1934. Many of us have lost everything,” Mayotte Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville said in a Facebook post Saturday. He said the highest alert had been lifted so that rescuers can help after the worst of the cyclone had passed.