Cyclone Amphan: Storm expected to make landfall this evening in Bengal, Bangladesh
As Bengal braces for Cyclone Amphan - an "extremely severe cyclonic storm" expected to make landfall this evening, a video of storm's impact on neighbouring Odisha has been shared by news agency ANI.
The two-minute long clip shows strong winds and heavy rainfall leading to uprooted trees and collapsed kutcha (mud) houses near Jagatsinghpur, a coastal district.
The first part of the video is taken from inside a car driving on a deserted road through heavy rain. As the rain intensifies, two men in raincoats, who had been walking along the road, start running. As the car approaches, they can be seen staggering a little as the howling wind picks up pace.
The video then shows a massive tree that has been uprooted and is now blocking the entire road. A large yellow earth-mover can be seen trying to break through the fallen tree, but with little apparent success.
Cyclone Amphan: Visuals of heavy rain in Odisha
The third section of the video shows the car driving through deserted and water-logged roads before more uprooted trees block its path.
The video also shows the impact of the heavy rain and winds in Odisha's rural areas - a kutcha hut with a thatched roof is seen destroyed by the rain and a lone man struggles to clear the debris.
A second video also showed strong winds and heavy rainfall over Odisha capital Bhubaneshwar.
Amphan (pronounced Um-Phun) is expected to bring winds of between 155 and 165 km per hour, with gusts up to 185 km per hour.
It had earlier been expected to hit parts of Odisha but this morning the state's top official, PK Jena, said the storm had changed course. The state, which last year dealt with Cyclone Fani, has evacuated around 1.5 lakh people so far.
Nevertheless, heavy rain and strong winds have been forecast for parts of Odisha as well; visuals this morning showed heavy rain in the state's Paradip district.
Bengal, which is likely to bear the brunt of the cyclone - likely one of the worst in this part of the world in years - has taken steps to prepare itself, including shutting the Kolkata airport till 5 am Thursday and ordering offices and markets to shut down.
As many as 40 NDRF (national disaster response force) teams have been deployed across the two states. The Indian Navy has also been put on alert to help with relief and rescue efforts.
With input from ANI