French Prime Minister Francois Bairroux believes dozens of people died when Cyclone Chido hit the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on December 14, not thousands as some had feared.
Bayrou told BFMTV that he believed “the alarming and sometimes terrifying numbers that have been suggested will not be confirmed in reality”.
Mayotte's confirmed death toll so far stands at 35, but in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, local prefect Francois-Xavier Beauville fears “it will definitely be several hundred” and could reach thousands.
The prefect told France Info radio on Tuesday that investigations in the area were progressing well, which “allows us to think that we will confirm this figure of 35”.
Defending his initial remarks, Beauville insisted: “I was never alarmed, I just couldn't give the number of casualties.”
Officials said it was difficult to determine the extent of the deaths since the disaster 10 days ago because of the inaccessibility of many areas of Mayotte and the fact that victims were buried within 24 hours in accordance with Islamic custom.
There is also uncertainty about the true population of Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean.
Officially, it has a population of 320,000, but authorities estimate that as many as 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented migrants may also live there.
“I think (the death toll) will be in the tens, not the thousands,” the prime minister told BFMTV on Monday evening.
The archipelago is one of the poorest parts of France, with many of its inhabitants living in slums.
Cyclone Chido was the worst storm to hit the territory in 90 years, packing winds of up to 260 km/h (160 mph) and leveling areas where people lived in shacks with metal roofs.
A day of national mourning was declared in France after the cyclone on Monday. President Emmanuel Macron visited the territory last week and was jeered by angry locals demanding more aid in the devastated areas.
Some survivors went a week without water, communication or electricity.
Authorities restored water to major points in the territory on Tuesday, Beauville said. “Even if that water is sometimes a little hard to come by, our fellow citizens have water.”
He also said that there is no longer a fuel shortage and cars can now be refueled.
Earlier, the prime minister said that a field hospital would also be operational by Tuesday morning.
Cyclone Chido moved into mainland Africa after hitting Mayotte, killing 120 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi.