100 million people in path of

India's worst cyclone in five

years

What is expected to be India's strongest landfalling tropical

cyclone in nearly five years is barreling toward 100 million people
on the east coast, prompting officials to begin emergency
evacuations.

On Thursday, Tropical Cyclone Fani had winds of 215 kph (130

mph) with gusts of 260 kph (160 mph), making it equivalent in
intensity to a Category 4 major hurricane on the Saffir-
Simpson scale.
While it is not expected to make landfall in Odisha state until
midday Friday, tropical cyclone force winds are already coming
ashore in portions of Andhra Pradesh and will soon reach the
Odisha coast as well.
As Fani was classified as an "extremely severe cyclonic storm"
in India, the country's Coast Guard and Navy deployed ships
and helicopters for relief and rescue operations. Army and Air
Force units have also been put on standby in Odisha, West
Bengal and Andhra Pradesh states.
Some 900 cyclone shelters have been set up across Odisha to
house evacuees and school is canceled across the state on
Thursday and Friday. Teams are going door to door to warn
people.
"They are being told what to take with them if they leave and the
precautions they need to take if they stay," said Ameya Patnaik,
assistant commandant for the National Disaster Response Force
(NDRF) in Odisha.

vacuations have also begun neighboring Andhra

Pradesh, while those in West Begal have been told to
be ready to leave, officials told CNN. Fishermen have
been warned not to venture out to the sea due to the
extreme conditions.
ani, which is still about 200 km (125 miles) east of
Visakhapatnam, a port city on India's coast, strengthened
rapidly on Monday and Tuesday, becoming the strongest storm
to move through the Bay of Bengal this early in the year since
Tropical Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
Nargis went on to strike Myanmar with winds over 200 kph
(124 mph), bringing a devastating storm surge and flooding
rainfall that resulted in more than 100,000 deaths in the
country.

Fishing boats at Konark beach prepare for cyclone Fani in Odisha.

Fani is expected to bring large storm surges and significant
wind damage near the landfall location. Inland flooding will
also be a major threat.
Portions of eastern India and Bangladesh can expect 150 to
300 mm (6 to 12 inches) of rain with locally higher amounts
regardless of the intensity.
As Fani approaches India it will be moving nearly parallel to
the coast. A slight move to the east or west would have a
significant impact on the timing of landfall as well as the
intensity. A more easterly track means that landfall would be
farther north in India, perhaps even into Bangladesh.
If that happens, the storm would likely be a category or two
weaker as it moves over cooler waters.

Cyclone season
Fani is the first tropical cyclone of the year in the northern
Indian Ocean.
The season doesn't have a defined start and end like the Atlantic
hurricane season, but it does have two main periods of activity:
late April to early June, and October to November.
These two periods are prior to, and immediately following, India's
southwest monsoon season. The southwest monsoon season
lasts from June through September and provides India with the
vast majority of its annual rainfall.
Tropical cyclone activity during the monsoon season is extremely
rare because the monsoon is characterized by high wind shear,
which makes it difficult for tropical storms to form.
CNN's Brandon Miller and Taylor Ward contributed