'Fragile' Mayotte still on high alert

A tropical storm still presented a threat to the French territory of Mayotte, officials said Sunday, even though it was moving away after bringing torrential rains and flooding, and after killing three people in Madagascar.

The storm came as France's poorest territory, where many people live in shanty towns, was reeling from a deadly cyclone that devastated Mayotte in mid-December.

"Mayotte faced an intense tropical storm. The impact was violent," said Manuel Valls, France's Minister for Overseas Territories. But there were no victims on the French island, according to the territory's prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville.

On Saturday evening, Dikeledi hit the northern coast of the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar as a cyclone before weakening into a severe tropical storm.

The storm was now headed towards Mozambique, where Cyclone Chido killed at least 120 people in December.

"It is now moving away from the island," said Meteo-France