The cyclone, which killed 41 people in Madagascar according to the latest toll, did not reach the Mozambican coast, remaining 50 kilometres (30 miles) from shore.

But it lashed the southern city of Inhambane and the surrounding region, packing winds of up to 215 kilometres per hour, according to meteorologists.

The storm left more than 130,000 people without power, the national electric company said.

Images on social media showed trees and an electric pole felled by the storm in Inhambane, a city of 100,000 people.

A hotel, the Monte Carlo, which sheltered residents from poor neighbourhoods on the city's south side, shared pictures with AFP of metal roofs ripped from buildings.

In Madagascar, the government declared a national emergency and said the storm had caused an estimated $142 million in damage.

The eye of the cyclone passed Tuesday over Madagascar's second-largest city, Toamasina, population 400,000, leaving it devastated.

The Indian Ocean island's leader, Colonel Michael Randrianirina, said around 75 percent of the city had been destroyed.

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