India braces for cyclone, puts navy on alert

BHUBANESWAR, India (AFP) – India deployed emergency personnel Wednesday and ordered the navy on standby as it braced for an extremely severe cyclonic storm barreling towards the eastern coast.

Tropical Cyclone Fani, located in the Bay of Bengal and packing wind speeds up to 205 kilometers (127 miles) per hour, is expected to make landfall at Odisha state Friday.

Nearly 800,000 people in India's eastern coastal districts have been evacuated ahead of the expected arrival of the cyclone.

The neighboring coastal states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have also been put on high alert.

India's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said sea conditions were ''phenomenal'' over the west-central Bay of Bengal area.

''Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas,'' NDMA warned on Twitter.

The office of the state's special relief commissioner said local authorities had been told to identify ''all vulnerable people... and shift them to multipurpose cyclone/flood shelters''.

''Arrangements have already been made for free kitchen, safe drinking water, lighting, health and sanitation,'' it said in a statement.

Local media reports say there are over 850 shelters in the state that can accommodate around one million people.

H.R Biswas, director of the meteorological centre in state capital Bhubaneshwar, said at least 11 districts would be affected by severe rainfall.

The coastal town of Puri, 62 kms (40 miles) from Bhubaneshwar, has also been placed on high alert.

The department warned of ''potential threat of flying objects ...extensive uprooting of communication and power poles ...disruption of rail, road''.