Tens of thousands of people are still without access to water in Mayotte after the French Indian Ocean region was devastated by Cyclone Chido, as rescuers raced to find missing people.

Preliminary figures from the French interior ministry report that 22 people have died, but the prefect of Mayotte has warned that the toll could rise to thousands.

Health workers are concerned that infectious diseases could spread, as residents have reported a shortage of clean drinking water and shops are rationing supplies. More support is expected to arrive on Wednesday.

Islanders spent the first night under curfew between 22:00 local time on Tuesday and 04:00 Wednesday (19:00 and 01:00 GMT) as part of measures to prevent looting.

"Everyone is rushing to the stores for water. There is a general shortage," Ali Ahmidi Youssouf, 39, told AFP on Wednesday as he walked with a few bottles in hand in the Pamandzi community off the archipelago's main island.

The authorities have said their priority is to get damaged water plants back up and running.

On Wednesday, authorities said the water system had been partially re-established and they hoped 50% of the island's population would have access to water by the evening.

The French government said 120 tons of food is expected to be distributed on Wednesday, while President Emmanuel Macron plans to visit Mayotte on Thursday.

Half the area is still without power. A newly imposed curfew requires people to stay in their homes for six hours overnight to prevent looting.

"We have no electricity," Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, the mayor of the capital, Mamoudzou, told Radio France Internationale. "When night falls, there are people who take advantage of that situation. "

Mayotte is one of the poorest areas in France, with many of the residents living in shantytowns.

desire - the worst storm to hit the islands in 90 years - brought wind speeds of more than 225km/h (140mph) on Saturday, flattening areas where people live in sheet metal-roofed shacks and leaving areas of dirt and debris.

"It was like a steamroller that crushed everything," Nasrine, a teacher who did not give her last name, told AFP in her devastated district of Pamandzi.

Another witness to the storm told Reuters that roofs were "flying away like they were pieces of paper".

"A gust of wind broke the window and tore a wooden plank. The panels were 2m by 3m (6.5 by 9.8 feet)," said Diego Plato, a photographer with the 5th Foreign Regiment of the French Legion.

He said many of the legion's buildings can no longer function because they no longer have roofs.

Rescuers are now looking for survivors from the ruins, such as in Mamoudzou, while trying to block roads and debris and downed trees.

On Wednesday morning, Mamoudzou residents who survived the storm draped metal sheets over damaged roofs.

Francois-Xavier Bieuville, prefect of Mayotte, told local media earlier the death toll could rise significantly once the damage has been fully assessed.

He warned that it would "definitely be several hundred" and reach thousands.

Chido also killed at least 45 people in Mozambique, and at least seven in Malawi, according to those countries' disaster management departments.

Officials have said that Mayotte's official toll is relatively low due to the fact that many areas are accessible and some victims have already been buried.

The problem is compounded by uncertainty about Mayotte's population size.

The area officially has 320,000 inhabitants, but authorities believe that around 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented migrants may be living there.

Initial figures from the interior ministry show that 1,373 people in Mayotte were injured.

Newly appointed French Prime Minister François Bayrou told parliament on Tuesday that "200 were seriously injured and 1,500 were critically injured".

"I have never seen a disaster of this magnitude on national soil," Bayrou later said in a post X.

"I think of the children whose houses have been swept away, whose schools have almost been destroyed and whose parents are devastated."

The government said it was sending in supplies via an airlift from its other Indian Ocean territory, Reunion Island.

On Wednesday, 100 tons of food are planned to be distributed on the largest island of Grand-Terre in Mayotte, and 20 tons are planned to be given on the smaller island of Petite-Terre.

A French naval support and aid vessel is expected to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday morning with 180 tonnes of goods on board.

The ferry connecting Mayotte's two main islands resumed services on Wednesday, allowing some people caught up in the storm to return to their families.

"I haven't heard a word from my staff in five days," a landlord who was taking the ferry, who declined to give his name, told Reuters. "It's back to the Stone Age."

Meanwhile, in Malawi - where Chido was headed after moving through Mayotte - authorities say seven people have been killed.

As many as 20 of the country's 29 provinces have experienced "moderate to severe damage" affecting around 35,000 people, a statement from the disaster management department said.

The number of deaths and the level of destruction lower than in neighboring Mozambique where authorities put the death toll at 45.

Experts say that seasonal storms like Chido are becoming stronger due to warmer ocean waters.

The cyclone is another challenge for the government after months of political turmoil, with Bayrou was appointed last week after the former Prime Minister was expelled Michel Barnier.