Bhubaneswar, May 20 (TIWN) The Odisha government has evacuated over 1.37 lakh people to safer places as extremely severe cyclone Amphan hurtled towards the coast triggering heavy rain and strong wind on Wednesday morning.

Amphan weakened from a super cyclone to an "extremely severe cyclonic storm" on Tuesday, causing strong winds and heavy rain in parts of Odisha and Bengal as it advanced towards the Indian coast. More than four lakh people have been evacuated to safety in both the states.

Officials anticipate massive destruction when the cyclone strikes; Amphan is expected to pack winds gusting up to 185 kilometres per hour when it crosses West Bengal's Digha and Hatiya island of Bangladesh where around 20 million have been moved to over 12,000 shelters. Amphan is only the second "super cyclone" to form in the northeastern Indian Ocean since records began. Indian Navy is on "high alert" on the east coast for relief efforts, an official statement said.