Foreign media on Cyclone Phailin

New Delhi: The monster cyclone Phailin, packing heavy rains and destructive winds, hit very close to Gopalpur on the Odisha coast shortly after 9 on Saturday evening, as over seven lakh residents moved inland to shelters in the hope of riding out the dangerous storm.

Here is what the foreign media has to say about the cyclone:

The New York Times: Late Friday, the United States Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said the storm, then barreling across the Bay of Bengal, had maximum sustained winds of 161 m.p.h., with gusts reaching 196 m.p.h. - making it similar to a Category 5 hurricane, the most severe. But once the storm arrived on land, its intensity was more modest, and Indian officials defended their more measured forecast as having been more accurate. (Read more here)

Wall Street Journal: Cyclone Phailin tore through the eastern coast of India Saturday night, uprooting trees, sweeping away houses and downing power lines. Around half a million people were evacuated ahead of the very severe cyclone, which made landfall just after 9 p.m. Indian Standard Time Saturday.  (Read more here)

Reuters: A fierce cyclone tore into India's east coast on Saturday night, killing at least five people and forcing about half a million into overcrowded shelters as the storm threatened to cut a swathe of devastation through farmland and fishing hamlets. (Read more here)

Time: A strong cyclone, half the size of India and one of the worst storms the country has witnessed in the last decade, tore into its eastern coastline on Saturday evening. Cyclone Phailin, packed with winds of 200-220 kph made landfall at Gopalpur, a popular beach destination in the state of Odisha, around 9 pm. (Read more here)

Channel 4: The massive storm is lashing India's east coast with gusts of more than 150mph. The threat of a storm surge is driving hundreds of thousands of people inland.(Read more here)

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Herald Sun: A cyclone packing winds of up to 200 kilometres an hour made landfall in India on Saturday after authorities evacuated more than half a million people from along the rain-lashed east coast.(Read more here)

The Guardian: Almost half a million people have fled the eastern Indian coast, many leaving just hours before a "super cyclone" hit the country.(Read more here)

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The Independent: A huge cyclone last night descended on the eastern coast of India, sending half a million people into emergency shelters and leaving millions more fearing for their lives and livelihoods. At least seven people were killed and 18 fishermen were reported missing. (Read more here)

USA Today: A gigantic cyclone, one of the strongest ever to hit the Bay of Bengal, pounded India's eastern cost with heavy winds and rain Saturday, as more than half a million people fled the region. (Read more here)

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Huffington Post: Hundreds of thousands of people living along India's eastern coastline were taking shelter Saturday from a massive, powerful cyclone that was set to reach land packing destructive winds and heavy rains.(Read more here)

BBC News: A powerful cyclone has hammered eastern India overnight, bringing down power lines, ripping up trees and sending seawater surging inland.(Read more here)

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Dawn: India evacuated half a million people as massive Cyclone Phailin closed in on the impoverished east coast Saturday, with winds already uprooting trees and tearing into flimsy homes.(Read more here)

The Telegraph: India is on a "war footing" as the most powerful cyclone in more than a decade hit its east coast, with wind, rain and sea battering the shore, prompting the evacuation of more than half a million people.(Read more here)

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CNN: Hours after it snapped power lines, overturned cars and ripped away bamboo homes, the most powerful cyclone to hit India in years weakened Sunday, but not before it left at least six dead.(Read more here)