More than 1.2 million people have evacuated India’s east coast as Cyclone Yaas made landfall on Wednesday (May 26) morning.

The cyclone has already killed two, uprooted trees and damaged homes in Odisha and West Bengal states.

Landfall began around 9 am (3.30 am GMT) on Wednesday, according to The Indian meteorological department which also warned that it would generate waves higher than rooftops in some areas.

The landfall of Cyclone Yaas started on Wednesday morning, the India Meteorological Department department said. The process started around 8:30 am and would continue for a few hours, the Met department said. At 10:30 am, it was reportedly crossing south of Balasore. The wind speed during landfall was at 130-140 kmph, gusting to 155 kmph, as per Doppler radar data.

Areas at the border of Odisha and West Bengal reported heavy rainfall since last night. There were reports of sea ingress much inland in parts of northern Odisha.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) earlier predicted that the wind speed during the landfall would be around 155-165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph.