The storm intensified as it reached Mozambique's coastal Nampula region, bringing destructive winds and torrential rains, according to French weather administration Meteo-France.

At least 120 people were killed in northern Mozambique in December when Cyclone Chido struck, after taking at least 39 lives in Mayotte where it injured more than 5,600 people and caused colossal damage.

Mozambique's National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) issued flood warnings for Dikeledi with forecasts of up to 200 millimetres (nearly eight inches) of rainfall in 24 hours and wind gusts of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) per hour.

President Filipe Nyusi urged residents in the path of the storm to take precautions including finding shelter and stocking up on food and water.

"Go immediately to a safe shelter and stay there until the authorities give you further instructions," he said during the opening of parliament in the capital Maputo.

At least three people were killed in Madagascar when Dikeledi hit the island nation at the weekend, the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said on Sunday.

It had hit Madagascar's northern tip as a cyclone Saturday, whipping up strong winds and torrential rains.

Meteo-France warned that Madagascar could be struck again along its southwest coast as the storm moves southwards later in the week.

Cyclones usually develop in the Indian Ocean from November to March. This year, surface water temperatures are close to 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in the area, which provides more intensity to storms, a global warming phenomenon also observed in the North Atlantic and the Pacific.