Indian authorities evacuated at least 1.1 million people to storm shelter inland as Cyclone Dana approached the low-lying region of India's eastern coast, ministers said Thursday.
The powerful cyclone is predicted to hit the coasts of West Bengal and Odisha states, home to around 150 million people, as a "severe cyclonic storm" late Thursday, India's weather bureau said. Winds could gush up to 120 kph (74 mph)
Major airports will shut overnight, including key travel hub Kolkata, where heavy rain was already lashing the sprawling megacity.
The eye of the storm is expected to make landfall near the coal-exporting port of Dhamra, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) southwest of Kolkata, early Friday.
Bangladesh has also started preparing for the storm, the interim government head Muhammad Yunus said that "extensive preparations" are being made for low-lying areas.
"Nearly a million people from the coastal areas are being evacuated to cyclone centers," said Mukesh Mahaling, the health minister of India's Odisha state.
In West Bengal, Minister Bankim Chandra Hazra reported that over 100,000 people had been moved to safety.
Crashing waves are expected to inundate swathes of coastal areas, with water predicted to surge up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) above usual tide levels.
Businesses in the coastal resort town of Puri have been ordered to close with tourists told to leave. "All efforts are being made to face the cyclone and save lives," said Puri district magistrate Siddharth Swain.
Flight operations at Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar airports will be suspended overnight, with numerous trains canceled and Kolkata ferries halted, according to airport director, Pravat Ranjan Beuria.
Bangladesh's disaster adviser, Faruk-e-Azam, said authorities are on "high alert" but have not issued evacuation orders, as the worst of the storm is expected to impact India.
Cyclones – the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific – are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean.
Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world heats up due to climate change driven by burning fossil fuels.
Earlier this year, Cyclone Remal killed at least 48 people in India and 17 in Bangladesh. However, improved forecasting and evacuation efforts have significantly reduced death tolls from such disasters.
