Cyclone Fani enters West Bengal

Kolkata: Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades, entered West Bengal post midnight on Saturday, hours after making landfall and causing havoc in Odisha on Friday.

According to the Meteorological department, the extremely severe cyclonic storm relatively weakened after entering coastal Odisha and transformed into "very severe" as it approached Bengal.

Wind gusting at over 100 kmph, accompanied by heavy rains, Fani lashed cities and towns in coastal Bengal including Digha, Mandarmani, Tajpur and Contai while the effects of the storm could also be felt in cities like Kharagpur and Burdwan as trees were uprooted and metal hoardings gave way.

Parts of Kolkata and the suburbs also received moderate to heavy rainfall since Friday afternoon.

The epicentre of the storm is expected to hit the city in the early hours on Saturday.