Heavy rain and high winds lashed parts of eastern India on Friday as a tropical storm hit coastal areas and rescue teams on high alert braced for its impact.

Cyclone Dana is expected to hammer the low-lying regions of West Bengal and Odisha, home to around 150 million people, as a “severe cyclonic storm” late on Thursday or Friday morning, India’s weather bureau said. At least 1.1 million people on India’s eastern coast were fleeing to storm shelters inland, just hours before the storm’s arrival.

A 'severe cyclonic storm' pounded India's eastern coast on Friday, uprooting trees, snapping power lines and inundating some areas, authorities said, adding that no deaths or injuries were reported.

Authorities in India are evacuating nearly 1.5 million people from the path of an approaching cyclone in the eastern states of Odisha (formerly Orissa) and West Bengal. Thousands of relief workers have been deployed to minimise damage from Cyclone Dana,

A powerful cyclone is expected to barrel into India's eastern coast early on Friday. Here are some key details about its landfall and intensity, and the measures being taken by authorities to protect people and property.

According to an India Meteorological Department bulletin, the cyclone was very likely to cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkan

Storm Dana is forming in the Bay of Bengal, forcing Indian authorities to shut down schools, evacuate hundreds of thousands of people, and cancel train services. Up to one million people are expected to have to leave their homes,

India is evacuating nearly 1.5 million people from the eastern states of Odisha and West Bengal as Cyclone Dana nears, with landfall expected within the next 24 hours. Authorities have deployed thousands of relief workers and set up temporary camps to safeguard those in the cyclone’s path.