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The French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte has been hit by more heavy rains, leading to flooding and landslides, a month after Cyclone Chida devastated large parts of the islands and left dozens dead.
The archipelago was put on the highest alert when another storm hit on Sunday morning. Authorities warned of strong winds, flash floods and landslides.
Videos on social media show downed power lines and some flooding. Local television reported that the southern village of Mbuini, the only settlement not affected by Cyclone Chida, was under water.
The latest storm, Dikeledi, hit northern Madagascar on Saturday, killing at least three people.
According to weather forecaster Météo-France, the storm passed approximately 100 km (62 miles) south of Mayotte around 09:00 GMT.
“Extremely heavy rains are starting to fall,” Francois-Xavier Beauville, the prefect of Mayotte, told French news channel BFMTV.
They caused the first floods “and relatively significant landslides” across the territory, he added.
The prefect said the island was likely to remain on red alert until Monday evening as heavy rain was expected to continue even after the storm passed.
At least 14,500 people took shelter in emergency shelters set up to protect against the storm, BFMTV reported.
As of Sunday afternoon, the storm was moving away from Mayotte, according to Météo-France. The system is expected to slowly intensify over the next 24 hours to tropical cyclone status as it approaches the coast of Mozambique.
The current forecast does not call for landfall in Mozambique, but “very deteriorated conditions” are still expected in the Nampula region, the forecaster said.
Mozambique is also recovering from Cyclone Chida, which killed 120 people in the country.
In Mayotte, one of the poorest parts of France, many residents live in slums.
Officially, the archipelago has a population of 320,000, but authorities estimate that between 100,000 and 200,000 undocumented migrants may also be living there.
On December 14, Cyclone Chida became the strongest storm to hit Mayota in 90 years, packing winds of up to 260 km/h (160 mph) and flattening areas where people lived in shacks with metal roofs.
Several hundred people were initially reported dead, but the number was later revised to 39.
