Hudhud hits India\\\'s east: 2 killed

Tropical cyclone Hudhud hit India’s eastern seaboard on Sunday with gusts of up to 195 kilometres an hour (over 120 mph), uprooting trees, damaging buildings and killing at least two men despite a major evacuation effort. The port city of Visakhapatnam, home to 2 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. Fallen trees and wreckage were strewn across the streets of Visakhapatnam, known to locals as Vizag. Most people heeded warnings to take refuge, but two men who ventured out were killed – one by a falling tree, the other when a wall collapsed. ‘The Visakhapatnam situation is very serious,’ K Hymavathi, special commissioner for disaster management for Andhra Pradesh said. ‘Telecommunications are disrupted - even our control room is not able to operate properly. People staying in their apartments are so afraid that they are panicking and calling us,’ she added confirming that Hudhud had made landfall before noon local time (0630 GMT), according to Reuters.