CAPE TOWN, South Africa >> The French territory of Mayotte was battered by a new tropical storm Sunday, just weeks after the worst cyclone to hit the islands in nearly a century laid waste to entire neighborhoods and villages and left authorities facing a huge recovery effort.

Mayotte issued a red alert and people were ordered to stay in their homes or find a solid shelter, and store food and water, as Tropical Storm Dikeledi brought heavy rains and strong winds to once again pound France’s poorest department. Some areas were experiencing flooding.

Mayotte, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, had only just begun the process of rebuilding after the devastation of Cyclone Chido last month, which killed at least 39 people, left more than 200 still missing, and injured more than 5,000 when in struck on Dec. 14.

Three people died in nearby Madagascar after Dikeledi made landfall there as a cyclone on Saturday, the country’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said. Parts of northern Madagascar were also placed under red alert.

Dikeledi had weakened to a tropical storm by the time it reached Mayotte on Sunday, French meteorological service Meteo-France said. The center of the storm would pass about 62 miles south of Mayotte, Meteo said. Chido had hit Mayotte head-on.

But Meteo-France warned Dikeledi could strengthen into a cyclone again, while authorities in Mayotte said there was a high danger of flooding and landslides across the islands and issued the red alert on Saturday night. That alert would remain in place for Sunday and civilians were forbidden from being outside until the alert was lifted, said the Mayotte Prefecture, the French government department that runs the territory.

Mayotte was also again opening cyclone shelters at schools and community centers for those in need, the prefecture said. The international airport, which was heavily damaged by Chido, was closed again until further notice.