The French overseas territory of Mayotte, devastated by the passage of Cyclone Chido in December, will be placed on a red weather alert from 1900 GMT on Saturday, a top official said, as residents of the Indian Ocean archipelago brace for a new storm.

“I have decided to bring forward this red alert to 10:00 pm to allow everyone to take shelter, to confine themselves, to take care of the people close to you, your children, your families,” Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville, the top Paris-appointed official on the territory, said on television.

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