New Delhi:
Cyclonic storm "Phailin", classified as "very severe" by the weather department, is expected to hit coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh at around 5:30 pm today.
Here is what the foreign media has to say about the cyclone:
The Washington Post: Potentially catastrophic cyclone Phailin, size of Katrina, headed for India
"Based on satellite estimates, maximum sustained winds are now easily around 160 mph (140 knots)," says Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at WeatherBell.com, a private forecasting services company.
Those wind speeds would make Phailin the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane, capable of catastrophic damage.
Phailin is not only intense, but also large.
"It's equivalent to Katrina in size," Maue says.
(Read More Here)The Wall Street Journal: India Braces for Cyclone PhailinIndia started assembling disaster-management teams and evacuating people in the low-lying areas of two states on the eastern coast where a cyclone packing winds of 175-185 kilometers an hour is expected to make landfall this weekend.
(Read More Here)
BBC: India's Orissa and Andhra Pradesh prepare for stormIndia is preparing for a massive cyclone, which is sweeping through the Bay of Bengal towards the country's east coast.
Cyclone Phailin, categorised as "very severe" by weather forecasters, is expected to hit Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states on Saturday. (
Read More Here)
The New York Times: India braces for cyclone expected on east coastThe storm had sustained winds of 161 miles per hour and gusts of 196 miles per hour, according to a warning issued by the United States Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The storm was similar in size and intensity to a Category 5 hurricane. (
Read more here)Voice of America: Huge Cyclone Stalks India's East CoastPictures from weather satellites late Friday showed Cyclone Phailin so large that it covered virtually the entire Bay of Bengal as its center drew a bead on the Indian states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
(Read more here)
USA Today: 'Catastrophic' cyclone heads for landfall in India
The "effects to the Indian coast ... in terms of surge will be catastrophic, with the potential to erase most houses, crops and infrastructure," reported WeatherBell meteorologist Ryan Maue on his Twitter account.
(Read more here)
Sky News: Cyclone Phailin- Thousands Flee In East India
Cyclone Phailin - which is already so large it has nearly filled the Bay of Bengal - is expected to be the fiercest storm to hit India since a devastating cyclone killed 10,000 people 14 years ago.
(Read more here)