Both species may be affected by poor weather. Breeding colonies of Brazza's martins in river sandbars are liable to flooding, but this does not appear to be having a serious impact, and this species appears to be under no immediate threat. Its ability to use degraded habitats also aids its survival. Tropical cyclones present a threat to the Mascarene martin, particularly on the small islands inhabited by the nominate subspecies. The populations on Mauritius and Réunion were badly affected by a six-day cyclone in February 1861, taking many years to recover, but by about 1900 it was reported to be common but local, and in 1973–74 there were 200–400 pairs on Réunion and 70–75 pairs in Mauritius. More recent cyclones, like one in 1980, seem to have had less damaging effects than the 1861 storm. Several species have been lost from the Mascarene islands since human colonisation in the seventeenth century, but the martin and the Mascarene swiftlet occur on all the main islands, and are less vulnerable to the effects of human activities, especially since they can utilise houses for nest sites.