New Delhi:
A monstrous cyclone that may be among the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal was expected to hit the eastern coast of India by Saturday night.
The storm had sustained winds of 161 mph and gusts of 196 mph, according to a warning issued by the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The storm was similar in size and intensity to a Category 5 hurricane.
Moving northwest, it was expected to hit the coast between the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on Saturday evening, according to a warning issued by the India Meteorological Department at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. A storm surge of 10 feet may swamp buildings along the coast, and rainfall that could exceed 10 inches in many places over the next two days could drench much of coastal Odisha, the warning from the Indian weather department said.
Forecasters predicted extensive damage to the region's wood and bamboo houses and the disruption of rail and road traffic because of extensive flooding.
Officials ordered hundreds of thousands of villagers to leave their homes for safer buildings. Tourists were evacuated from hotels in the region, which is just southwest of the major metropolitan area of Kolkata.
"We have been preparing for the last five days," said P.K. Mohapatra, a special relief commissioner in Odisha, according to the Indian news media. "We have pressed the national disaster management force, air force and army for any eventuality."
The storm, Cyclone Phailin, is likely to be the strongest to hit India in at least 14 years, and it comes during a crippling strike in Andhra Pradesh by government workers, who have shut down much of the state's electrical grid over the past week. After hearing a plea from the state's chief minister, workers agreed to restore power to much of Andhra Pradesh on Friday.
Odisha, with a population of nearly 40 million, is one of India's poorest states, with a largely agricultural economy that could be devastated by the storm.
© 2013, The New York Times News Service