Cyclone slams into Indian temple town, Bangladesh braces with evacuation order

By Jatindra Dash and Serajul Quadir

A cyclone barrelled into eastern India on Friday, damaging houses in the tourist town of Puri and wounding 160 people after a million people were moved into storm shelters.

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Indian government spokesman Sitanshu Kar said there were no reports of deaths but 160 people were believed injured.

Bangladesh's junior disaster minister Enamur Rahman said 56 thousand volunteers were racing to move millions out of the storm's path.

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India's cyclone season can last from April to December, when severe storms batter coastal cities and cause widespread deaths and damage to crops and property in both India and neighbouring Bangladesh.

But recent technological advances have helped meteorologists predict weather patterns more accurately and prepare.

A super-cyclone battered the coast of Odisha for 30 hours in 1999, killing 10,000 people. In 2013, a mass evacuation of nearly a million people likely saved thousands of lives.

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