Nearly 800 000 people in India's eastern coastal districts have been evacuated ahead of the expected arrival of a major cyclone packing winds of up to 200km/h, officials said.
, brewing in the Bay of Bengal some 450km offshore and moving westwards, is expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon near the Hindu holy town of Puri.
The office of the state's special relief commissioner said local authorities had been told to identify"all vulnerable people... and shift them to multi-purpose cyclone/flood shelters". HR Biswas, director of the meteorological centre in state capital Bhubaneshwar, said at least 11 districts would be affected by severe rainfall.The neighbouring coastal states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have also been put on high alert.The cyclone was expected to pack sustained wind speeds of 180-190km/h, bringing gusts of up to 200km/h, and is equivalent in strength to a Category 3 to 4 hurricane.
The department warned of"potential threat of flying objects ... Extensive uprooting of communication and power poles ...Disruption of rail, road".
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