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Cyclone Freddy returned to southern Africa's mainland for the second time in a month, reaching landlocked Malawi early Monday after hitting Mozambique over the weekend.

The storm brought strong winds and torrential rain, causing road flooding and power outages in the hardest-hit areas. Videos on social media showed torrential rain sweeping away thousands of homes and uprooting trees, with residents facing large ravines in roads and crossing makeshift bridges as rain continued.

Most houses in the area are built with mud bricks, making them highly vulnerable in severe weather. Local authorities said almost 60,000 people have been affected, including about 19,000 displaced from their homes.

The World Meteorological Organization said Freddy is the strongest tropical cyclone on record and could also be the longest-lasting one. On Sunday, the storm struck Mozambique as a cyclone for the second time in less than a month after battering Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

The extent of damage in Mozambique has been difficult to determine because power supply and phone signals were cut off in some parts of the affected areas.