Mayotte affected by floods and mudslides from the second Dikeledi storm

The French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte was hit by fresh heavy rains that led to flooding and mudslides, a month after Cyclone Chido devastated large parts of the islands and left dozens dead.

The archipelago was placed on the highest level of alert as another storm passed through on Sunday morning. Authorities warned of strong winds, flash floods and landslides.

Videos on social media showed downed power lines and some flooding. Local television reported that the southern village of Mbuini, the only settlement not affected by Cyclone Chido, was under water.

The latest storm, Dikeledi, hit northern Madagascar on Saturday, killing at least three people.

The storm passed approximately 100 km (62 miles) south of Mayotte around 0900 GMT on Sunday, according to the Météo-France forecast.

“Extremely heavy rains are starting to fall,” François-Xavier Beauville, prefect of Mayotte, told French news channel BFMTV.

They were causing the first floods “and relatively significant mudslides” across the territory, he added.

The prefect said the island was likely to remain on red alert until Monday night as heavy rain was expected to continue even after the storm passed.

At least 14,500 people have taken refuge 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 foresee landfall in Mozambique, but the Nampula area is still expected to experience “very deteriorated 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 as many as 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented migrants may also 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 leveling areas where people lived in shacks with metal roofs.

Initial reports indicated that several hundred people had been killed, but the number was later corrected to 39.