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

Cyclone Chido not only ravaged Mayotte’s infrastructure but also laid bare tensions between the island’s residents and its migrant population.

France marked a day of mourning Monday for victims of Cyclone Chido, which devastated its poorest territory, Mayotte, over a week ago.

Early last Sunday, after a night spent working at a small Mayotte maternity ward as a vicious storm devastated the French islands, midwife Lucie Gerard learned that a stranded woman was giving birth in a nearby home.

The devastation from Cyclone Chido that shattered corrugated metal shacks and thousands of lives on the island of Mayotte was both immediate and long coming.

France mourns victims of Cyclone Chido, which wreaked havoc on Mayotte, causing at least 35 deaths and leaving thousands injured and displaced. The cyclone severely damaged infrastructure. Local residents struggled to comprehend the disaster's severity,

France held a national day of mourning for Mayotte, its Indian Ocean territory devastated by a violent cyclone on Dec. 14, beginning in the morning on Monday with a minute of silence for the scores of residents left dead by the storm.