FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron faced heckling from local people as he arrived in the Indian Ocean island territory of Mayotte on Thursday after it was devastated by Cyclone Chido.

At least 31 people have been killed and more than 2,000 people were injured by the cyclone which hit five days ago, more than 200 critically, French authorities said. But it’s feared hundreds or even thousands of people may have died.

Locals said they were demanding more aid from French authorities after many were left without shelter and access to water.

Many also called on the president to resign, prompting Mr Macron to tell locals: “I’m not the cyclone. I’m not responsible.”

Assane Haloi, a security agent, told President Macron as he passed down a line of local people: “Mayotte is demolished.

“We are without water, without electricity, there is nowhere to go because everything is demolished. 

“We can’t even shelter, we are all wet with our children covering ourselves with whatever we have so that we can sleep.”

The cyclone has battered the island’s infrastructure, knocking out power, leaving homes without water and putting a strain on the few places that could still provide essentials. 

Public health experts are concerned that a lack of access to clean water could lead to disease.

Supermarkets were running low on supplies and some shelves were bare. Throngs of cars and motorbikes packed the streets waiting up to five hours to get to petrol pumps still in service. Residents queued for hours to fill jugs at water pumps.

President Macron said it was a day he would not forget, and things were likely to worsen as the number of casualties rose.

The president promised that the French government would send more support to the territory soon, adding that a national day of mourning would be observed in France on Monday.