More than 1 000 people were feared dead in Mozambique four days after a cyclone slammed into the country, submerging entire villages and leaving bodies floating in the floodwaters, the nation’s president said.

“It is a real disaster of great proportions,” President Filipe Nyusi said.

Emergency officials in Mozambique have cautioned that while they expect the death toll to rise significantly, they have no way of knowing how high the death toll will be.

A cyclone that hit Mozambique last week has damaged or destroyed 90% of the city of Beira, the Red Cross  confirmed, and the death toll in the country and neighboring Zimbabwe has risen to 157.

The European Union has granted 150,000 euros (about 170,000 US dollars) to assist the victims of floods and of cyclone Idai in central Mozambique.

The aid should directly benefit 7,500 people in Sofala, Manica, Tete and Zambezia provinces. A further 17,000 people will benefit from sanitation and health services in accommodation centre.