The French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte has been hit by fresh heavy rains, leading to flooding and mudslides, a month after Cyclone Chido devastated large parts of the island and left dozens dead.
The archipelago was put on the highest alert as another storm passed through on Sunday morning. Authorities warned of strong winds, flash floods and landslides.
Videos on social media show downed power lines and some flooding. Local TV reported that the southern village of Mbouini, the only settlement left untouched by Cyclone Chido, was under water.
The latest storm, Dikeledi, hit northern Madagascar on Saturday, killing at least three people.
The storm passed roughly 100 km (62 miles) south of Mayotte around 0900 GMT on Sunday, according to forecaster Météo-France.
“Extremely heavy rains are starting to fall,” François-Xavier Bieuville, 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 them from the storm, BFMTV reported.
On Sunday afternoon, the storm was moving away from Mayotte, Météo-France reported. 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 predict landfall in Mozambique, but the Nampula region is expected to experience “very degraded conditions”, the forecaster said.
Mozambique is also recovering from Cyclone Chido 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 around 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented migrants could be living there.
On December 14, Cyclone Chido became the worst storm to hit Mayotte in 90 years, bringing winds of up to 260 km/h (160 mph) and flattening areas where people lived in shacks with metal roofs.
Initial reports stated that several hundred people were killed, but the number was later reduced to 39.
