Their focus primarily on avoiding any loss of human life, authorities have evacuated more than 5.25 lakh people from the coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh with cyclone 'Phailin' set to hit the eastern coastline.
"Our main focus is to avoid loss of human life. So far we have evacuated 4.25 lakh people in Odisha and 1 lakh more in Andhra Pradesh," Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami told reporters in New Delhi.
Most of the evacuated people have been sheltered in 500 specially-built cyclone camps in the two states.
Each cyclone shelter can accommodate up to 1,500 people while their ground floors may be used as cattle shelters.
Official sources said authorities have switched off power supply along the Odisha coastline and in three coastal districts in Andhra Pradesh.
In Odisha, the normal power consumption is around 2,800MW but, due ,to the power cut, it had come down to 1,300MW.
In Andhra Pradesh, against a normal usage of around 9,700 MW, the suspension in transmission had brought consumption down to 9,200MW.
Sources said the impact of cyclone 'Phailin' would be highest during the night and gradually come down from dawn.
"We expect that the impact will be over in 18 hours, beginning 6 pm today," sources said.
The National Disaster Management Authority said it had deployed nearly 2,000 National Disaster Response Force personnel in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
A total of 29 NDRF teams have been deployed along with rescue equipment in Odisha.
In Andhra Pradesh, 15 teams are in place while four additional teams are being rushed from Tamil Nadu.
Seven teams have been deployed in West Bengal.
The teams are equipped with satellite phones and wireless sets to maintain communication in case the normal lines are affected due in the cyclone.
"The cyclone, which is moving at a speed of 15kmph is expected to hit the coast near Gopalpur between 6 and 8 pm on Saturday and is likely to stay for six hours before moving on," LS Rathore, Director General of Meteorology, told reporters earlier in New Delhi on Saturday.
Andhra Pradesh has set up a round-the-clock control room in the State Secretariat in Hyderabad.
The control room numbers are: 040-23456005/23451043 and Fax- 040-23451819.
Emergency control room numbers - 08942 240557 and +91-652838191 in Srikakulam district.
Toll free number 180042500002 was announced as the Phailin emergency number.
The helpline number of the Odisha Central Control Room - 0674-2534177.
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