Southern India braced on Saturday for the arrival of a powerful cyclonic storm expected to cross the Indian coast by noon (7.30 am GMT).
The storm, named Fanoos, was expected to hit India’s south-eastern coastal state of Tamil Nadu with winds of up to 80kph and heavy rains, the Chennai weather office said.
Chennai is Tamil Nadu’s capital.
Dozens of coastal villages have been evacuated, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
At least 430 people have been killed in Tamil Nadu and half a million left homeless by the four cyclonic storms that have pounded the state since late October.
The state receives most of its annual rainfall from the north-east monsoon, which is often marked by cyclonic activity in the Bay of Bengal. — Sapa-AP