In pictures: Cyclone Phailin batters eastern India

A man covers himself with a plastic sheet as a shield from the rain as he walks to a safer place near Gopalpur junction in Ganjam district

A powerful cyclone has made landfall on the east coast of India. Throughout the day local residents have been seeking shelter.

A woman carries her baby as she moves to a safer place with others at the village Donkuru in Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh state.

At least 500,000 people had been forced from their homes as Cyclone Phailin reached the coast.

Villagers take refuge in a cyclone shelter at Gokhorkuda village in, Ganjam district

In Gokhorkuda in Ganjam district, villagers took refuge in cyclone shelters. The cyclone is expected to be the biggest storm in the area for 14 years.

Fishermen tie their boat along the shore at Donkuru village in Srikakulam district, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on 12 October 2012.

Earlier in the day, fishermen at Donkuru village in Srikakulam district, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, tied their boat along the shore.

High tide waves approach the Bay of Bengal coast near Gopalpur beach in Ganjam district on 12 October

High waves battered the coast near Gopalpur beach as the cyclone started to sweep through the Bay of Bengal.

A rickshaw man bikes through heavy rain in Berhampur, about 180 kilometres south from eastern city Bhubaneswar

Forecasters were estimating winds of up to 240 km/h (150mph). In Berhampur, south of the city of Bhubaneswar, a rickshaw man did his best to pedal through heavy rain.

Evacuated Indian villagers get down from a truck at a relief camp as it rains near Berhampur on 12 October 2013

Lorries have been taking evacuated villagers to relief camps. The army is on standby for emergency and relief operations, and food packages were ready to be dropped in the storm-affected areas.