A severe cyclone is making its way through the Bay of Bengal and expected to hit the east coast of India Saturday evening. More than 400,000 people have already evacuated their homes in an attempt to get out of the storm's path. Cyclone Phailin is expected to surge to at least 10 feet when it makes landfall and cause "extensive damage" to coastal mud houses. People have been asked to leave mud houses and fisherman have been warned to stay out of the sea. Though the cyclone is still a few hours away from land, people are already feeling its wrath as it approaches. One man from Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa state where Phailin is headed, told the BBC that trees have been knocked down and debris is flying around outside. "Already the rain is very heavy and the wind is gusting at 100-120km an hour," he said. "The phone lines are down where I am and we have no electricity." The last time a deadly cyclone hit the same area was in 1999, and more than 10,000 people were killed, but Indian officials say they are more prepared now.
