More than 440,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in two states as a huge cyclone made landfall on India's east coast.
India's weather office issued a red alert, saying the "very severe cyclonic storm Phailin" was packing gusts as high as 150mph (240kph).
The evacuation is one of the biggest such exercises in the country's history, said the national disaster agency.
A satellite image of the cyclone At least 12 million people are in the path of the storm, which virtually filled the Bay of Bengal - an area the size of France.
The cyclone is expected to be the fiercest storm to hit India since a devastating cyclone killed 10,000 people 14 years ago.
Some forecasters likened its size and intensity to hurricane Katrina, which devastated the US Gulf coast and New Orleans in 2005.
Fishermen pull a boat from the waters of the Bay of Bengal to safer ground Dr Liz Bentley from the Royal Meteorological Society told Sky News: "This particular part of the coastline is very low-lying so it (Phailin) will penetrate quite well in land.
"It is like a mini-tsunami hitting that - not caused in the same way as a tsunami but it's the same effect."
Large waves have already pounded beaches in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Villagers along the coast were evacuated to schools in the north of the state and in neighbouring Odisha, while panic buying drove up food prices.
Relief items are packaged for distribution to cyclone evacuees Authorities have been evacuating villagers along the coast to government-run shelters and schools in three districts of Andhra Pradesh state and five districts of Orissa state.
But many villagers said they had not been told to evacuate, and others were refusing to leave their homes.
"Of course I'm scared, but where will I move with my family?" said Kuramayya, 38, a fisherman from the village of Bandharuvanipeta, while 12ft waves crashed behind him. "We can't leave our boats behind."
Floods have already ripped down power lines The Indian Meteorological Department said Phailin would hit between Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and the port of Paradip in Odisha. Storm surges 10ft above normal tides were predicted.
About 12 hours before Cyclone Phailin's landfall, meteorologists held out hope that the storm might hit while in a temporary weakened state, but no matter what it will be large and deadly.
Residents move to safer ground Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at Weather Bell, a private US weather firm, said even in the best-case scenario there will be a storm surge of 20-30 feet (7-9 metres).
A storm surge - the giant wall of water that that a cyclone blasts ashore - is the big killer in such events.
The predicted path of the cyclone The storm already has been large and powerful for nearly 36 hours, he said, and those winds have built up tremendous amount of surge, Mr Maue said.
He said: "A storm this large can't peter out that fast. There's nothing to stop it at this point."
Officials cancelled holy day celebrations and stockpiled emergency supplies in coastal Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states.
Floods have already hit ahead of the cyclone If the storm continues on its current path without weakening, it is expected to cause large-scale power and communications outages and shut down road and rail links, officials said. There would also be extensive damage to crops.
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