The coastal districts of Bangladesh have been put on storm alert as a severe cyclone heads in across the Bay of Bengal, officials say.
Operations have been suspended at the main ports of Mongla and Chittagong, and people are being moved away from high-risk areas.
More than 40,000 policemen, soldiers, coastguards and health workers have been deployed along the coast.
The cyclone is expected to make landfall in the next few hours.
With winds of 200km an hour, the cyclone - expected to make landfall around 0800 GMT - may also affect eastern Indian and the west coast of Burma.
Thousands of families have been evacuated from their homes in over a dozen coastal districts of Bangladesh, officials said.
'Serious'
Bangladesh's southern seaside resort town of Cox's Bazar appeared to be deserted after the cyclone warning was issued on Wednesday evening, reports said.
Bangladesh meteorological department officials said they feared the cyclone may also trigger tidal surges up to 10ft (over three metres) in some areas.
Southern Bangladesh is often hit by cyclones, but experts say the latest one is a category four storm, the largest so far in the season. "This is a very serious cyclone," said B.P. Yadav, director of the India Meteorological Department told the Reuters news agency. Bangladesh is frequently hit by cyclones and monsoon floods.
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Bangladesh put on cyclone alert
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