India evacuates hundreds of thousands of people as it braces for tropical storm

A surfer enters the Bay of Bengal at Konark beach in Puri district of Odisha state, on India’s eastern coastline, where Tropical Storm Dana is expected to make landfall late on Thursday and early into Friday (AP)

Indian authorities have shut schools, evacuated hundreds of thousands of people and cancelled trains in parts of the country as rescue teams braced for a tropical storm brewing in the Bay of Bengal.

Tropical Storm Dana is expected to intensify, bringing wind speeds of 100-110 kph (62-68 mph) and gusts up to 120 kph (74 mph), as it pushes toward the country’s eastern coastline.