Cyclone Hudhud hammers India's east coast; at least 3 dead

Visakhapatnam

CYCLONE Hudhud blasted India's eastern seaboard on Oct 12 with gusts of up to 195km an hour, uprooting trees, damaging buildings and killing at least three people despite a major evacuation effort.

The port city of Visakhapatnam, home to two million people and a major naval base, was hammered as the cyclone made landfall, unleashing the huge destructive force it had sucked up from the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal. Upended trees and wreckage were strewn across Visakhapatnam. Most people heeded warnings to take refuge, but three who ventured out were killed, officials said. The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, the state that bore the brunt of Hudhud's onslaught, said the extent of damage would only become known after the storm abates.