Cyclone Laila expected to hit south India soon

A cyclonic storm is heading towards the coastal areas of India's southern Andhra Pradesh state, officials say.

Cyclone Laila is expected to hit the state from the Bay of Bengal in a few hours. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated to safer places.

Heavy rains and strong winds have killed up to 15 people, uprooted trees and flattened homes. At least 55 fishermen are reported missing.

Laila is the worst storm in 14 years and has been classified as "severe".

The cyclone is expected to hit the coast with wind speeds of 115km/h (71mph) to 125km/h (78mph) on Thursday afternoon and forecasters have warned of a sea surge.

All along the coast, strong winds have uprooted trees, power lines and billboards.

At least six districts have been hit by power outages leaving hundreds of villages in darkness for more than 10 hours.

Coastal areas in the north of the state of Tamil Nadu ave also been experiencing heavy rains since Tuesday night.

The army and navy are on high alert and Andhra Pradesh officials say boats have been requisitioned from the neighbouring state of Orissa.

Fishing vessels have been ordered to stay in port, the state's Chief Minister K Rosaiah said.

"We are fully geared to face this natural calamity," he said.

The chief minister directed his cabinet colleagues to rush to coastal districts to oversee relief and rehabilitation work.

Andhra Pradesh saw its worst cyclone in 1977 in which more than 10,000 people were killed.