Authorities along India’s East Coast and neighboring Bangladesh have evacuated millions and shut factories as the biggest cyclonic storm in two decades is set to make a landfall later today, according to Bloomberg. Amphan is forecast to be the worst storm over the Bay of Bengal since the 1999 super cyclone that hit the eastern Indian state of Odisha. India’s worst-ever cyclone killed about 10,000 people in the state.
Amphan, now equivalent of a category 3 hurricane after weakening overnight, is moving towards West Bengal in India and Khepupara in Bangladesh, according to the India Meteorological Department. Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. has shut phosphate production and shipments from its Paradip plant.
The cyclone is expected to carry sustained wind speed of 170 to 180 kilometers (106-112 miles) per hour, which could rise as high as 200 kilometers per hour. Bangladesh is evacuating 2.2 million people from coastal districts. In India’s West Bengal, almost 300,000 people have been moved into relief centers.