KAKINADA: Ferocious winds and torrential rain lashed India`s southeastern coast after a cyclone made landfall on Wednesday, killing at least three people before the storm weakened, officials said.

Cyclone Arnab hit southeastern Andhra Pradesh state as a `very severe cyclonic storm`, with winds of 125-135 kilometres per hour and gusts reaching 150 kph in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Torrential rain was recorded as much as 30 centimetres in parts of Andhra Pradesh andOdisha states, IMD said, with the storm weakening into a `deep depression` throughout Wednesday afternoon. `Three people have lost their lives, and 31 homes have been damaged,` Narendra Singh Bundela, Inspector General of India`s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) told reporters.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu thanked officials who had `worked tirelessly throughout the night`. Around 50,000 people were told to move to safer areas in Andhra Pradesh and another 48,000 in neighbouring Odisha.-AFP