By Jatindra Dash
BHUBANESWAR, India, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Rain and wind lashedIndia's east coast and nearly 400,000 people fled to cycloneshelters after the government issued a red alert and warned ofsevere damage when one of the largest storms the country hasever seen makes landfall later on Saturday.
Muslims and Hindus gathered at mosques and temples in Odishastate, praying Cyclone Phailin would not be as devastating as asimilar storm that killed 10,000 people 14 years ago. Heavy rainpounded coastal villages in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Phailin was packing winds of at least 220 kph (137 mph) onSaturday morning and was expected to cause a 3.4-m (11-foot)surge in sea levels when it hits the coast in the evening, theIndia Meteorological Department said in a statement.
"The storm has high damage potential, consideringwindspeed," Lakshman Singh Rathore, head of the weatherdepartment, said on Friday.
Families walked through the rain to shelters, televisionimages showed, as gusts of wind snapped branches from trees.Tourists left popular beach resort Puri. Officials broadcastcyclone warnings through loudspeakers, radio and television.
"The wind speed is picking up," said Odisha's Special ReliefCommissioner, Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra. "Some people were earlierreluctant to move. They are willing now."
Filling most of the Bay of Bengal, Phailin was about 300 kmoffshore on Saturday morning, satellite images showed, and wasexpected to reach land by nightfall. Officials said the stormwas verging on becoming a "super cyclone."
London-based Tropical Storm Risk said the storm was alreadyin that category, and classed it as a Category 5 storm - thestrongest. The U.S. Navy's weather service said wind at sea wasgusting at 314 kph.
Some forecasters likened its size and intensity to hurricane Katrina, which tore through the U.S. Gulf coast andNew Orleans in 2005.
Its scale also stirred memories of a 1999 Indian storm whenwinds reaching speeds of 300 kph battered Odisha for 30 hours.
This time, however, the Odisha government said it was betterprepared. Half a million people are expected to shelter inschools and other strong buildings when the storm hits,officials said. At least 60,000 people left their homes in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Friday.
Authorities warned of extensive damage to crops, villagedwellings and old buildings, as well as disruption of power,water and rail services. Shelters were being stocked withrations, and leave for government employees was cancelled.
A police official said a rescue effort was launched for 18fishermen stranded four nautical miles at sea from Paradip, amajor port in Odisha, after their trawler ran out of fuel.
Paradip halted cargo operations on Friday. All vessels wereordered to leave the port, which handles coal, crude oil andiron ore. An oil tanker holding about 2 million barrels of oil,worth $220 million, was also moved, an oil company source said.
But the storm was not expected to hit India's largest gasfield, the D6 natural gas block in the Cauvery Basin furtherdown the east coast, said Reliance Industries, whichoperates the field.
Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf coast on Aug. 29, 2005, killingabout 1,800 people, including many in New Orleans where leveesfailed to hold back storm surges.
It was one of the six biggest hurricanes - also known ascyclones and typhoons - ever recorded and caused damage ofaround $75 billion.