India evacuates 800,000 people as country braces for Tropical Cyclone Fani

India has begun the evacuation of 800,000 people and deployed emergency personnel as the country’s east coast braces for a severe cyclonic storm.

Tropical Cyclone Fani, located in the Bay of Bengal and packing wind speeds up to 205 km (127 miles) per hour, is expected to make landfall on the coast of Odisha state on Friday.

The state’s authorities said they hoped to have evacuated 800,000 people from the state’s coastal districts by Thursday morning.

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The office of the state’s special relief commissioner said local authorities had been told to identify “all vulnerable people... and shift them to multipurpose cyclone/flood shelters”.

“Arrangements have already been made for free kitchen, safe drinking water, lighting, health and sanitation,” it said in a statement.

Local media reports say there are more than 850 shelters in the state that can accommodate around one million people.

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