The French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte has been hit by more rain, causing flooding and landslides, a month after Cyclone Chido destroyed much of the island and left dozens dead.
The archipelago was placed on maximum alert as another storm passed through Sunday morning. Authorities warned of strong winds, flash flooding and landslides.
Videos on social media showed downed power lines and some sections submerged in water. Local television reported that Mbuini village in the south, the only village left unaffected by Cyclone Chido, was submerged under water.
The latest storm, Dikeledi, made landfall in northern Madagascar on Saturday, killing at least three people.
The storm passed about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Mayotte around 9pm Japan time on Sunday, forecaster Météo France said.
“Very heavy rain is starting to drip,” Mayotte governor François-Xavier Vieuxville told French news channel BFMTV.
They are causing initial flooding and “relatively significant landslides” across the territory, he added.
The governor said the island will likely remain under a red alert until Monday night as heavy rain is expected to continue even after the storm passes.
At least 14,500 people have taken shelter in emergency shelters set up to protect them from the storm, BFMTV reported.
As of Sunday afternoon, the storm was moving away from Mayotte, Météo France reported. The system is expected to slowly develop over the next 24 hours and reach tropical cyclone status as it approaches the coast of Mozambique.
Current forecasts do not predict landfall in Mozambique, but the Nampula region is still expected to experience “very deteriorating conditions,” the forecaster said.
Mozambique is also recovering from Cyclone Chido, which killed 120 people in the country.
In Mayotte, one of the poorest regions in France, many residents live in shantytowns.
Officially, the archipelago has 320,000 residents, but authorities estimate there may also be around 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented immigrants 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 metal-roofed shacks. I made it.
Initial reports put the death toll at several hundred people, but the death toll was later revised down to 39.
