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At least three people were killed on Sunday as a powerful cyclone was lashing a large swath of India’s eastern seaboard with heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday
Cyclone Hudhud one of two storms pounding Asia slammed into India’s east coast packing winds of almost 200 km per hour ripping down power cables and forcing roads and railways to shut.
At least 400000 people were evacuated from the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa states and hundreds of shelters were set up to house them.
Visakhapatnam one of the largest cities in southern India and a major naval base was bearing the brunt of the cyclone’s fury.
‘We have had three deaths since this morning’ said Natrajan Prakasam a Disaster Management Commission official in the worst-hit state of Andhra Pradesh in southeast India.
Two people were crushed by falling trees while the third was killed when a wall collapsed in heavy rains he told AFP.
India placed its navy and coastguard on high alert ahead of the storm and advised residents to stay indoors as the cyclone passed by warning of large waves known as storm surges.
Some flights were cancelled while bus and train services in the worst affected areas were suspended.
The head of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said the main highway in the port city of Visakhapatnam which was in the eye of the storm as it hit was strewn with fallen trees and electricity pylons.
In Japan at least 35 people were reported injured as Typhoon Vongfong packing winds of up to 180 km per hour and heavy rain hit the southern island of Okinawa and was aiming at the island of Kyushu where authorities told 150000 people to evacuate.
vember that cause deaths and widespread property damage.
The region is populated by fishermen and small-scale farmers many of whom live in flimsy huts with thatched roofs or shanties.
More than 8000 people were killed in Orissa the state to the north of Andhra Pradesh by a cyclone in 1999 and authorities are keen to avoid a repeat of that disaster.
Last year India undertook its biggest ever evacuation ahead of the arrival of Cyclone Phailin with about a million people moved from their homes along the east coast.
The cyclone killed at least 18 people in the state and left a trail of destruction but authorities said the toll could have been much worse without the evacuations.
On Sunday authorities in Orissa said they had evacuated almost 70000 before the storm hit many of them indigenous people living in mud houses.
P.K. Mohapatra special relief commissioner of Orissa told AFP preparations had been made to evacuate another 300000 ‘once the cyclone crosses our
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an emergency government meeting late Saturday to review preparations for the cyclone.
The navy earlier said it had ‘assumed a high degree of readiness’ and ships equipped with divers doctors inflatable rubber boats helicopters and relief material were on standby.
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