Accompanied by heavy rain and wind, the violent cyclone "Tauktae" hit land in western India and, according to the authorities, killed at least 20 people.
"Tauktae" had landed on the coast of the state of Gujarat, wrote the Indian weather service on Monday evening (local time) on Twitter.
The cyclone is also making India's fight against the coronavirus more difficult: Thousands of people, including Covid 19 patients in hospitals, have been taken off the coast.
Coming from the Arabian Sea, the cyclone hit land at wind speeds of up to 185 kilometers per hour.
The Indian weather service reported storm surges of up to three meters in some regions of Gujarat.
It is said to be the worst storm in the West Indies in the past 30 years.
Corona vaccinations suspended
At least six people were killed in Maharashtra over the weekend and Monday as a result of heavy rains and strong winds.
Another seven people died in the state of Kerala, the state's head of government tweeted on Monday evening.
In Gujarat state, more than 150,000 people were brought to safety from the storm on Sunday and Monday night. As a precaution, all Covid-19 patients were transferred to hospitals that are more than five kilometers from the coast. The corona vaccinations were suspended for two days.
In the metropolis of Mumbai further south, 580 corona patients from three field hospitals were brought to safety on Sunday. There, the authorities closed the airport for several hours on Monday due to the storm. The residents were asked to stay at home. 12,500 people were brought to safety from coastal regions of the state of Maharashtra, in which Mumbai is located. In a hospital in Goa, a corona station was partially flooded because it rained in through open windows.
The corona situation in India has been dramatic for weeks.
As of Monday, 4,100 deaths and 280,000 infections were reported within 24 hours.
Many hospitals are overwhelmed by the situation.
In the areas likely to be hardest hit by the cyclone, the authorities tried everything to prevent power outages in hospitals and in oxygen production facilities.
Udaya Regmi from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the cyclone was a "heavy double blow" for millions of people in India who were already suffering from the corona pandemic.
The organization supported the authorities in the evacuation of threatened regions.
In May 2020 more than 110 people were killed by the cyclone "Amphan". It had left a trail of devastation in eastern India and Bangladesh.