India closes ports, begins evacuations ahead of Cyclone Fani

India began relocating hundreds of thousands of villagers on Wednesday and shut down operations at two major ports on its east coast ahead of a severe cyclone expected to make landfall on Friday.

The state of Odisha, which hugs the Bay of Bengal,has also moved in thousands of disaster management personnel to help those living in mud-and-thatch homes in low-lying areas take shelter from impending Cyclone Fani.

"We are making best efforts to inform them about the cyclone and move these vulnerable people to cyclone shelters," Bishnupada Sethi, the state's special relief commissioner, told Reuters.

Tourists have also been advised to leave the coastal temple town of Puri, a sacred destination for Hindu pilgrims.

India's cyclone season generally lasts from April to December, with severe storms leading to widespread evacuations, deaths, and damage to crops and property, both in India and Bangladesh.

Portshalt operations

Authorities at ports in Paradip and Visakhapatnam ordered ships to move out to sea to avoid damage.

"Paradip port operations will be suspended from tonight. All vessels have been told to leave the port," said S.K.Mishra, traffic manager at the port.

Two decades ago, a super cyclone battered the coast of Odisha for 30 hours, killing 10,000 people. In 2013, a mass relocation of nearly a million people saved thousands of lives.

Tropical Storm Risk cyclone tracker labelled Cyclone Fani a Category 3 storm,on a scale of a low Category 1 to a powerful Category 5.

On Wednesday, the storm's winds hit a speed of 195 km/h, and are forecast to remain as strong through Thursday.

The storm tracker shows the cyclone's path starting in theBay of Bengal, and then skimming by the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and the city of Kolkatabefore hitting Bangladesh later this week.