More than a million people in India have been evacuated as a powerful cyclone has started making landfall on its eastern coast on Wednesday, writes BBC.

Cyclone Yaas, which intensified into a “very severe cyclonic storm”, hit the state of Orissa, also known as Odisha, and will take two hours to cross over.

This is the second cyclone to hit the country in a week, after Cyclone Tauktae killed more than 150 people.

Yaas lashed coastal areas with ferocious wind and rain as it made landfall, damaging buildings.

India’s meteorological department said low-lying areas near the coast have been inundated due to the rain and tidal surges accompanying the cyclone.