Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades, made landfall near Puri, India, around 8 a.m. on Friday, lashing the coast with winds gusting at more than 120 miles per hour.

Tens of millions of people are potentially in the cyclone's path, and more than a million were evacuated this week from coastal areas. Large sections of coastal India and Bangladesh are threatened by storm surges, and heavy rains could cause rivers to breach.

Several hours after it made landfall, the cyclone was downgraded to a "very severe" storm from an "extremely severe" storm. According to  an Indian news channel three people have been killed.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has cancelled her political rallies for next 48 hours in view of the Cyclone Fani and has requested people to stay safe and alert during the storm. She has stationed herself closer to the coastal belt in Kharagpur to monitor the situation for the next two days.

The Met department has predicted that the cyclone is likely to affect interior districts of West Bengal, which will experience gale wind speed of 90-100 km/hr. As a precautionary measure, all government schools in Bengal have announced summer holidays from today. Summer holidays have been preponed due to the cyclone. The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata will remain shut from 4 pm today to 6 pm tomorrow in the view of Cyclone Fani.

The Met department has predicted that Cyclone Fani is likely to cause damage to roads, plantations and communication lines in parts of West Bengal. The storm may also cause flooding in some regions.